Shaun Norris, battling an ear infection so painful he couldn’t sleep on his left side the night before, took advantage of the fresh morning conditions to take the second-round lead of the Joburg Open on Friday.
The Pretoria-based player, a two-time winner on the DP World Tour, fired a flawless seven-under-par 63 around the Houghton layout to move to 11 under overall.
Frenchman Adrien Saddier, who picked up his only victory in 2016, had threatened to join him, but a bogey on the final 18th hole saw him sign for a 65 to lie alone in second place one stroke behind.
Scotsman Connor Syme and Shubhankar Sharma of India, winner of the 2018 Joburg Open at Randpark, were tied for third on nine-under par, with six players on eight under par, including Wenyi Ding of China, one of the two first-round leaders.
Given that 16 golfers were within two shots of the lead after Thursday, the race atop the leader board had thinned to four within two shots heading into the weekend.
Englishman Jordan Smith, the other overnight leader, shot a disappointing 74 to slip to three under par.
South African Open champion Dylan Naidoo missed the cut, as did Casey Jarvis, who threw his wedge into the dam on the par-three ninth, his final hole, on his way to scoring a seven.
Norris timed his charge to perfection, though he had no idea he would be so sharp given his ailment.
“It feels like I’ve got an air pod in my ear all day long,” said Norris. “I picked up an ear infection on Tuesday, saw the doctor on Wednesday. Tried to flush it out, it’s not working in. They put me on antibiotics and things like that, but it’s frustrating ...
“I can’t even sleep on this ... ear. So painful.
“I can’t hear anything on my left side. It’s bugging me, but you know what? Somehow it’s not bothering me on the golf course. I guess that's what matters.”
Norris, who started on the 10th, carded three birdies on the 11th, 12th and 13th holes before adding a fourth on 15.
He scored two more birdies on par-four holes — the first and sixth — before making his final seventh birdie on the par-three seventh.
Norris agreed that the morning fields on Thursday and Friday enjoyed an advantage. “Definitely. I mean, in the mornings the greens are not trampled as much Because of the conditions being so soft Because due to the rain and things like that, the greens are running a little bit more smoothly in the mornings.”
Saddier was happy with his play off the tee box. “The strategy is just try to keep the ball in the fairway, but my driving is pretty good at the moment so I’m really confident on the tee. So I just try to maximise this.”
Syme, who missed the cut at the South African Open in Durban last week, was more cautious about his tee shots.
“There's not a lot of drivers actually, which I think for Joburg is a bit unusual ...
“But there’s a lot more strategy around here so a lot of seven woods, three woods off tees and obviously drivers as well, but with it being so wet, it’s really important to be on the fairway.”
Earful to cheerful: Shaun Norris beats infection as he takes Joburg Open lead
Image: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images
Shaun Norris, battling an ear infection so painful he couldn’t sleep on his left side the night before, took advantage of the fresh morning conditions to take the second-round lead of the Joburg Open on Friday.
The Pretoria-based player, a two-time winner on the DP World Tour, fired a flawless seven-under-par 63 around the Houghton layout to move to 11 under overall.
Frenchman Adrien Saddier, who picked up his only victory in 2016, had threatened to join him, but a bogey on the final 18th hole saw him sign for a 65 to lie alone in second place one stroke behind.
Scotsman Connor Syme and Shubhankar Sharma of India, winner of the 2018 Joburg Open at Randpark, were tied for third on nine-under par, with six players on eight under par, including Wenyi Ding of China, one of the two first-round leaders.
Given that 16 golfers were within two shots of the lead after Thursday, the race atop the leader board had thinned to four within two shots heading into the weekend.
Englishman Jordan Smith, the other overnight leader, shot a disappointing 74 to slip to three under par.
South African Open champion Dylan Naidoo missed the cut, as did Casey Jarvis, who threw his wedge into the dam on the par-three ninth, his final hole, on his way to scoring a seven.
Norris timed his charge to perfection, though he had no idea he would be so sharp given his ailment.
“It feels like I’ve got an air pod in my ear all day long,” said Norris. “I picked up an ear infection on Tuesday, saw the doctor on Wednesday. Tried to flush it out, it’s not working in. They put me on antibiotics and things like that, but it’s frustrating ...
“I can’t even sleep on this ... ear. So painful.
“I can’t hear anything on my left side. It’s bugging me, but you know what? Somehow it’s not bothering me on the golf course. I guess that's what matters.”
Norris, who started on the 10th, carded three birdies on the 11th, 12th and 13th holes before adding a fourth on 15.
He scored two more birdies on par-four holes — the first and sixth — before making his final seventh birdie on the par-three seventh.
Norris agreed that the morning fields on Thursday and Friday enjoyed an advantage. “Definitely. I mean, in the mornings the greens are not trampled as much Because of the conditions being so soft Because due to the rain and things like that, the greens are running a little bit more smoothly in the mornings.”
Saddier was happy with his play off the tee box. “The strategy is just try to keep the ball in the fairway, but my driving is pretty good at the moment so I’m really confident on the tee. So I just try to maximise this.”
Syme, who missed the cut at the South African Open in Durban last week, was more cautious about his tee shots.
“There's not a lot of drivers actually, which I think for Joburg is a bit unusual ...
“But there’s a lot more strategy around here so a lot of seven woods, three woods off tees and obviously drivers as well, but with it being so wet, it’s really important to be on the fairway.”
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