Julien Guerrier, the soon-to-be Dubai resident, holds a one-shot lead at the halfway stage of the Nedbank Golf Challenge after firing a remarkable 68 in extremely difficult conditions on day two. The in-form Frenchman, who ended his long wait for a maiden DP World Tour title in Andalucía in October, carded eight birdies and four bogeys in a roller-coaster second round as strong winds caused havoc at Gary Player Country Club.

While a hole-out birdie from a bunker at the eighth will perhaps go down as Guerrier's best shot of the day, his par save from seven feet on the 18th green was probably his most important as, with his rivals leaking oil on the closing holes, it earned him the outright lead on five under par.

Defending champion and first-round leader Max Homa led for much of the day before back-to-back double bogeys on the 16th and 17th saw his two-shot advantage go up in smoke. Guerrier's nearest challengers heading into the weekend were fellow countryman Romain Langasque and home favourite Ockie Strydom, who sit one shot off the lead on four under.

Homa was among the group a further stroke back after eventually signing for a 75. “First of all, it’s a privilege to score under par in tough conditions like that. I am very pleased I made a lot of birdies,” Guerrier said. ‘It was difficult to stay patient, you know you are going to make some mistakes, everybody does.

“This is difficult because you can hit some really good shots, like me on 17 but then you go into the water, just the wrong gust at the wrong moment, but that is part of this golf course.“The fairways are actually wet so if you play straight down in the middle it is a little bit longer, and if you go on the side, it is a bit shorter, and on the green it is a bit firmer. We saw that on 18, it is really long and the second shot is tough,” he added.

Guerrier started the day five shots off the lead after Thursday's 71 but soon set about closing the gap. He kicked off his second round with a 20-foot birdie putt before picking up another shot from just shy of ten feet on the third green. After failing to get up and down from a bunker, Guerrier dropped his first shot of the day at the par-three fourth but he bounced straight back with a close-range birdie on the fifth.

The 39 year-old, who will move their family home to Dubai at the end of this month, then made an unlikely birdie at the eighth as his bunker shot landed a few feet from the cup, took a couple of hops and sailed into the hole. The back nine began with back-to-back birdies on the tenth and 11th before he dropped a shot at the 12th.

And the topsy-turvy nature of Guerrier's round continued as he birdied the 14th and 15th to make it a three-way tie at the top on seven under before giving the shots straight back with bogeys at the 16th and 17th. But with others struggling too, a brave closing par steadied the ship and earned Guerrier the lead.

With conditions being tough, only 15 players in the field broke par. Jumeirah Golf Estates’ member, and based in Dubai, Paul Waring (Eng), winner of last month’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at Yas Links Abu Dhabi, continued his fine form with rounds of 72 and 70 to be two under par in tied eighth.

There is no cut with 66 players in the field. The third round is a two tee start with Guerrier teeing off in the final match off tee one with Strydom and Langasque at 11.11 am (local Sun City time). Round 2 Leading Scores (7,819 Yards, Par 72): J. Guerrier (Fr) 71. 68. 139. O. Strydom (RSA) 67. 73. 140. R. Langasque (Fr) 70. 70. 140. A. Sullivan (Eng) 69. 72. 141. J. Veerman (US) 70. 71. 141. M. Jordan (Eng) 69. 72. 141. M. Homa (US) 66. 75. 141. P. Waring (Eng) 72. 70. 142. L. Canter (Eng) 73. 69. 142. C. Bezuidenhout (RSA) 70. 72. 142. F. Lacroix (Fr) 72. 70. 142.

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