Golf: Lothian player on track at Africa Open

The 28-year-old was lying seventh at the halfway stage, having followed his opening 67 with a 71 to stand on eight-under and two shots off the lead at East London.

Saltman, who is playing in only his second event since securing a European Tour card, had South African star Charl Schwartzel for company today.

And the Scot had his sights set on coming fast out of the blocks to try and keep himself in contention in the 830,000 event.

"I am hoping to get off to a good start," said Saltman, who would have been alongside Branden Grace, Markus Brier and Miles Tunnicliff at the top of the leaderboard but for dropped shots at his final two holes yesterday.

"There are two par-5s in the opening three holes and if I can cover the front nine in a couple under that will put me in a good position for some of the harder holes later in the round."

Despite closing with those two bogeys, the Aegon player was delighted to be sitting within touching distance of the leaders at the halfway stage.

He missed the cut in the South African Open just before Christmas but was probably needing a break by then after an exhausting few weeks leading into the Qualifying School.

"My game was suffering a bit in Durban and it was good to get a holiday with my family over the festive period," observed Saltman.

"I didn't know what to expect when I arrived here this week, so I'd delighted to be eight-under after two rounds.

"I've hit a lot of greens in regulation in those 36 holes while I have also been putting well.

"Hopefully that can continue for another two rounds but I am not going to put myself under any unnecessary pressure.

"It's simply a case of trying to take one shot at a time and, even though I'm up near the top of the leaderboard, I'm determined to treat this weekend as I would any other tournament."

Saltman was joined in the final 36 holes by brother Lloyd, though he fell out of the top 10 after a second-round 76 - eight shots more than his opening effort.

The 25-year-old started sluggishly with three straight bogeys, had three birdies in the middle of his round only to drop shots at the 16th and 18th.

All that left him on two-under for the tournament, six behind his brother and one adrift of Motherwell's Steven O'Hara.

Alastair Forsyth and Marc Warren also made the cut on level-par but David Drysdale was among those who missed out after the wheels came off for him in spectacular fashion.

The Cockburnspath player looked to be crusing to a third successive South Arfican cut, having achieved that feat in both the Alfred Dunhill Championship and South African Open.After opening with a three-under 70, he had improved to five-under after picking up two early birdies only to see his round fall apart after taking a double-bogey 6 at the fifth.

He then dropped four shots on the spin from the seventh, also ran up bogeys at the 13th and 17th, eventually signing for a 79 that saw him miss out by three shots.

But he was in good company, two-time US Open champion Retief Goosen also making an early exit on two-over.

Austrian ace Brier picked up eight birdies and one eagle in a seven-under 66 to join South African Grace (69) and Englishman Tunnicliff (69) in a share of the lead.

Tunnicliff, twice a winner on the European Tour, including the 2004 Diageo Championship at Gleneagles, began with a spectacular run of five straight birdies before the wind picked up later in the day.

"The back nine was extremely tough and the wind was getting up more on every hole," he said. "I was just trying to survive out there at the end and keep the ball in play.

"I like playing in the wind. The two tournaments I've won have both been in windy conditions so that seems to suit me fine.

"I played well here last year and I get good vibes from this course. Last year I was in contention until the back nine on Sunday so let's hope I can do even better this time round."

Open champion Louis Oosthuizen (67) was lurking menacingly on 137 with fellow South African Jaco Van Zyl (70) and Briton Ross McGowan (69).