Portugal’s Ricardo Santos retained his two shot advantage before play was suspended during the second round of the Africa Open in East London.
The former Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year led overnight following a brilliant nine under par 63 on day one, and was two under at the turn when heavy rain forced players off the course.
At 11 under Santos was two ahead of Paraguay’s Fabrizio Zanotti, who was three under through seven holes, with South African Ulrich van den Berg a shot further back in third.
Santos started his second round at the ninth and birdied the tenth and 13th on the way out, having played 27 holes this week without a bogey.
Play resumed at 10.45am local time, a delay of an hour and 35 minutes which meant the second round was unlikely to be completed on schedule on Friday evening.
Santos saved par from six feet on the 18th to remain 11 under par, but Van den Berg resumed with a double bogey six on the first to fall five shots off the pace on six under.
