Rain delay helps Lloyd

A rain delay on Friday morning was advantageous for golfer Darryn Lloyd as he completed his back nine in five-under par to hold second place in the second round of the Zimbabwe Open.

Lloyd was on the ninth hole when play was suspended at 8.25am, making it easy for him to escape from the rain.

It proved a turning point for him after finishing his first nine on one-under par with two birdies, an eagle, and three bogeys.

After an hour-and-a-half wait, which gave Lloyd some composure, he returned to the course and posted five unanswered birdies to sign off with a six-under par 66 for a total of 11-under par.

He was two shots behind overnight leader Theunis Spangenberg, who carried his great play from Thursday into a solid 67 on Friday.

Spangenberg was also fortunate, finishing his round just as play was suspended again at 1.19pm amid a lingering thunderstorm which turned into a downpour.

Deane Pappas was in third place on 10-under par, after repeating his 67 from Thursday.

Neil Schietekat and Andrew Georgiou, who was still to complete his round, were three shots further adrift on seven-under par.

The round of the morning had to go to Michiel Bothma, who after starting with two bogeys and an eagle in his first four holes, reeled off five consecutive birdies from the 14th to the 18th holes to turn five-under par.

He then added another three birdies on the front nine to record a spectacular eight-under par 64 which left him at five-under par after two rounds and ensured him a spot in the weekend’s play.