Zander Lombard carded a seven-under-par 65 on Friday, and although it wasn’t enough to give him the lead, it put him in a share of second place at the halfway mark in the Sunshine Tour’s Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open.

Lombard made nine birdies and two bogeys on the Rondebosch Golf Club layout after opening with a four-under 68 at Royal Cape. The field in the tournament co-sanctioned by the Challenge Tour plays a round on each of those two courses ahead of the cut, after which the final two rounds will be played at Royal Cape.

At 11-under-par for the tournament, Lombard was three shots off the hot pace set by Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin. He got his round off to an almost unbelievable start, with seven birdies in succession on the first seven holes at Royal Cape. He turned in 29, and, although he made three birdies coming home, he was unable to keep up that incredible pace.

Also on 11-under was Spain’s Ivan Cantero Gutierrez, who, like Lombard, added a 65 to his opening 68, also at Rondebosch. The pair was a stroke ahead of the French duo of Gary Stal and Felix Mory on 10-under-par. Mory, like McKibbin, carded a 10-under-par 62, although his came at Rondebosch with an eagle and eight birdies.

In a share of sixth behind them is a group of seven players, including defending champion JC Ritchie, who signed for a six-under-par 66 at Royal Cape to move to nine-under for the tournament. Three other South Africans are in that group: Louis de Jager carded a 69 at Royal Cape, Pieter Moolman had a third 10-under for the day, his coming at Rondebosch, and Keenan Davidse signed for a 67 at Royal Cape. The overseas players in that bunch are Christoffer Blomstrand of Sweden, who was the first-round leader, New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier and Alfie Plant of England.