On-song Steven O’Hara out on his own in bid for South African Open

The 31-year-old Motherwell man, who is fighting for survival on the European Tour, leads the £860,000 SA Open at the halfway stage after a bogey-free second round at the Serengeti Golf Club. The joint-overnight leader shot a four-under-par 68 for a total of 133, one in front of South African duo Retief Goosen, a two-time winner of the event, and Merrick Bremner.

“I have played really well – my whole game feels in good shape,” said O’Hara after a round that saw him pick up three shots going out – at the 11th, 16th and 17th, having started at the tenth – before adding his fourth birdie of the day at the second.

“The wind was getting really blustery and it was difficult to get the right club. If you’re not in the right spot you’ve got a really tough putt on the greens. My iron play was really good on the back nine, which I was pleased about.”

The former Walker Cup player is lying 134th in the Race to Dubai and needs to finish in the top 118 (three players currently inside the all-important top 115 will come off the list at the end of the season) to hang on to his card. A top-three finish here would suffice, though a place in the top five would earn him another bite at the cherry in next week’s Hong Kong Open.

“I’ve put myself in a good position for the good finish I need,” he added. “It’s like I’ve got nothing to lose, so I’ve been a bit more aggressive this week. I’m just going to go out and keep doing what I’ve been doing. Keep trusting my swing and if I’ve got a position to win on Sunday, then brilliant.”

The Scot, without a win in 222 events on the circuit going back a decade, will have two-time US Open champion Goosen for company in today’s third round after he stepped up his title bid by also carding a 68. “I’ve won this event twice and I want to win it again,” he declared after moving to ten-under at the halfway stage.

Bremner also shot 68, coming back with six birdies after he had bogeyed the 12th, his third, and double-bogeyed the next. Other South Africans breathing down O’Hara’s neck include Garth Mulroy, winner of last weekend’s Alfred Dunhill Championship, who is two off the pace while five-time champion Ernie Els is bubbling away on six-under.

But O’Hara isn’t the sole Scot in contention for a top prize of around £135,000. Archerfield’s Lloyd Saltman, sitting two places below his compatriot on the money-list and also needing a top-three finish, is lying in a tie for eighth on seven-under after a flawless 68 that contained an eagle and two birdies.

David Drysdale has almost certainly secured his card after firing a 72 to make the cut on four-under, one better than Peter Whiteford (71), George Murray (72) and Elliot Saltman (72).

Whiteford, joint-third last week, birdied three of his last four holes to keep alive his hopes of climbing into the top 60 on the money-list and earning a spot in the season-ending Dubai World Championship.

Alastair Forsyth made it into the final two rounds as well but only just after a 72 for 142, two-under. Playing with Els, Michael Stewart signed off his amateur career with a four-birdie 71 for 145, the same total that saw Scott Jamieson miss out.