Scott Vincent of Zimbabwe stayed at the top of the leaderboard on Friday in the Japan Golf Tour’s Sansan KBC Augusta at Keya Golf Club in Itoshima, Fukuoka as he carded a two-under-par 70 to move to 10-under for the tournament.
It wasn’t quite the sensational eight-under of his first round, but an eagle, three birdies and three bogeys gave him a share of the lead with Japan’s Tomoharu Otsuki, who signed for a six-under 66. Vincent and Otsuki had a one-stroke lead over American Seungsu Han and Japan’s Shota Akiyoshi.
“I couldn’t stick to my strategy today,” said Vincent, as he battled his way through his front nine. “I couldn’t stay on the fairways, and that placed me in difficult positions. My putting didn’t help me either.”
He started off with a bogey on 10th, but he regained that shot with birdie on the 15th.
On his back nine, on the par-five sixth, his approach shot from 200 yards with a seven-iron got to three-metres, and he drained the putt for eagle. This was the turning point for his round. He went on to make birdies on the seventh and the closing ninth.
“I got my game back at the end, so I think I will be able to play positive tomorrow,” he said.
Shaun Norris carded a second round of three-under 69 to move up to a share of 27th, and Jbe’ Kruger was in a share of 40th after his level-par 70. Both will play the weekend.
