Bradbury added a 66 to his opening 63 at Houghton Golf Club to set the clubhouse target on 13 under par; watch day three of the Joburg Open live on Sky Sports Golf from 10am on Saturday
Saturday 26 November 2022 13:49, UK
England's Dan Bradbury continued to set the pace as bad weather again disrupted play in the Joburg Open.
Bradbury, who turned professional in July and only received an invite to the first tournament of the new DP World Tour season on Friday, added a 66 to his opening 63 at Houghton Golf Club to set the clubhouse target on 13 under par.
South Africa's Casey Jarvis and France's Romain Langasque had reached 12 under after 14 and 11 holes respectively before play was called off for the day following an earlier stoppage of almost three hours due to lightning.
Langasque went birdie-eagle at the second and third and then posted three birdies in four holes to put himself into contention, Jarvis then powering up the leaderboard with seven birdies in a row to put him alongside Langasque in second.
Bradbury, who is ranked 1,397th in the world, recovered from a bogey on the second with an eagle and six birdies in the next nine holes and at one point enjoyed a seven-shot lead before dropping shots on the 15th and 16th.
"It's the same as yesterday, I can't complain," the 23-year-old from Wakefield said.
"I had it going there on the front nine and thought it was going to be another 63, maybe 62.
"On the back nine I made a few mistakes but overall, very, very happy."
Asked about his lofty position in just his fifth tournament in the paid ranks, Bradbury added: "You always dream of it don't you?
"That's what you try and do when you show up, but it is a little bit of a surprise considering my preparation. I'm just happy to be where I am."
But a three-hour delay meant play was suspended, and many of the afternoon starters came back on Saturday to finish their second rounds.
On the resumption of play on Saturday, with eight holes of his round still to play, 19-year-old Jarvis moved into a share of the lead with a birdie at the sixth, but he bogeyed the eighth to finish at 12 under.
Finn Sami Välimäki sits in solo third on the leaderboard after he birdied the 15th - one of six holes he had to complete - to reach 11 under.
Langasque was a shot further back after he made a double-bogey six at the 15th and went without a birdie in the seven holes he had to finish, with Nathan Kimsey also in the group at ten under after he parred his final four holes on the resumption.
South African quartet Daniel van Tonder, who matched the course record on Friday, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Jbe Kruger and Louis De Jager are all also three shots adrift of the lead going into the final two rounds.
Defending champion Thriston Lawrence, who was named last season's Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year earlier this week, is ten shots off the pace after a two-over-par 73, which included a triple-bogey seven at the 12th when play resumed on Saturday morning.
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