Rowan Lester followed his opening 67 with a two-under round of 70 to move to -7 overall and occupy a share of 15th place at the midpoint of the Sunshine Tour’s Eswatini Open.
The Hermitage man birdied two of his opening eight holes but dropped a shot on the ninth to turn at -1 for the day. And when he followed that bogey with a double on 10, the round was in danger of getting away from him.
A birdie on the par-5 12th helped steady the ship, and he remained at level-par until the 17th – another par-5 – where he holed out from off the green for an eagle-three and made a big jump back up the leaderboard.
A par on the last got him into the clubhouse on seven-under, and he’s just five off the lead held by South African Michael Hollick going into the weekend.
Hollick’s 64 featured two eagles, two bogeys and six birdies and saw him leapfrog his way to the top on -12, one clear of fellow countryman Pieter Moolman and German Allen John.
FULL SCORING
