George Coetzee's five under par 67 in the second round of the Investec Cup took him into a two stroke lead - and a step closer to a spot in the first Major Championship of the year.
First-round leader Lucas Bjerregaard of Denmark carded a level par 72 at Millvale Private Estate to reach halfway at seven under par in second, with Keith Horne and Merrick Bremner reaching six under with their rounds of 68 and 69 respectively.
A victory for Coetzee in this tournament will earn him enough Official World Golf Ranking points to get him inside the top 50 and assure him of a start in the Masters Tournament at the beginning of April.
"That's one of the most important things I'm playing for this week," said Coetzee. "There's only one spot here that will work for me, so I'm trying to just stick to the things that I've been doing in the last couple of weeks which have worked for me.
"It's starting to show on the golf course, and my scoring is starting to be pretty good. I feel very comfortable. So I try not to think about all the benefits of playing well - I just try and play well."
Coetzee's round on Friday included three birdies and an eagle, and the fact that he had no dropped shots put him in a good position, as everyone else had bogeys on their cards. Bjerregaard had two, Horne one and Bremner three.
