Hugo blitzes Swazi layout

2008-05-08 19:05

Mbabane - Jean Hugo was in imperious form on the second-day of the Samsung Royal Swazi Sun Open, scorching his way round the par-72 layout at the Royal Swazi Sun Country Club in 61 strokes.

Under the modified stableford format his round was worth 26 points, with two points for a birdie, five for an eagle, eight for an albatross and deducts one for a bogey and two for a double bogey or worse.

It was a day of records for Hugo, who not only equalled the tournament low round record shared by Thomas Aiken (2006) and Grant Muller (2007), but set the largest second round leading margin at 15 points.

With 42-points on the board and two rounds to go, Hugo could well challenge the tournament record of 59 points, set by Aiken, the winner in 2006.

Second-placed Christiaan Basson picked up 14 points for his bogey-free round of 65, while first round leader Desvonde Botes stayed in touch with one bogey and three birdies to finish in third on 26 points.

Port Elizabeth's Titch Moore fared marginally better, dropping two shots against four birdies for a valuable six points to stay in contention in fourth on 25 points.

Fought back

Trevor Fisher Jr and rookie Tyrone Ferreira, the reigning Zambian Open champion, added steady 12s for an average of 22 points to round out the top-5 leaderboard.

Hugo blasted from the blocks with a par-birdie-birdie-eagle start, followed by his first of two bogeys at the par-3 14th. A string of birdies over the next four holes saw him take the turn in 29.

The 32-year old Sunshine Tour winner played the relatively easier front nine in 32 strokes, dropping his second shot at the second hole, but fighting back with an eagle at the fifth and birdies at the seventh and eighth holes.

"From tee to green, everything just worked together well," said Hugo, who last stepped on the winner's podium after a wire-to-wire victory at the 2007

Nashua Masters. Hugo beat Moore at the first hole of a sudden-death play-off.

"You have to take advantage at every hole on this course and keep the bogeys off your card if you want to build up points and I guess today, things went my way.

- SAPA