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Hugo blitzes Swazi layout
08/05/2008 19:05 - (SA)
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.
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