Pablo Larrazábal revealed he had achieved "something I never dreamed of" as he reached 16 under after just two days of the 2022 MyGolfLife Open hosted by Pecanwood.
With a gettable layout and perfect conditions at Pecanwood Golf and Country Club, the five-time DP World Tour winner followed up his opening 63 with a 65 to reach a score that he bettered only once over 72 holes in those five victories.
He had fellow Spaniard Nacho Elvira for company at 16 under and knew he would have to maintain a similar pace to his first 36 holes if he was to claim win number six.
"16 under par after two rounds is something I never dreamed of, so it’s quite amazing," he said.
"It was fun. It was tricky at the beginning because I didn’t feel that good on the range but teeing up on the tenth obviously you have those par fives to start with and I made both birdies.
"Then a little mistake on 13, I three-putted from 15 feet, but then I just kept attacking. I just kept attacking this golf course and made six birdies coming in and happy days.
"I prefer to try to control a golf tournament but I know this weekend is going to be very tough to control because some guys can go out there and shoot low 60s or even a 59 or a 58.
"The golf course is out there for that, so the plan will be to tee it up tomorrow on the first knowing that we have to go out aggressive and make a lot of birdies."
The most recent of Larrazábal's wins came in South Africa at the 2020 season-opening Alfred Dunhill Championship, and the 38-year-old loves playing in the Rainbow Nation.
Going LOW here in South Africa 🔥#MyGolfLifeOpen pic.twitter.com/YhuU6RUc1r
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) March 11, 2022
"I enjoy it," he said. "The trip from Barcelona to here is long but when you arrive here it’s awesome, it’s paradise.
"South Africa, 2007 since I first stepped in this country, obviously my first tournaments were in Cape Town and Leopard Creek, and it’s not tough to love this country with those two trips.
"But I love the way South Africans are, very close to the Spanish mentality, they are very open so I really enjoy to come down to South Africa and play some golf here."
Elvira carded the lowest round of his DP World Tour career with a 62 on day one and after following it with a 66, he admitted he enjoyed the freedom that a low-scoring week provides.
"It was good," he said. "It felt like I was playing where I left off yesterday, the swing was feeling good again, I was hitting it close and I made a couple of putts more than yesterday so I was happy with the front nine.
"It cooled a little on the back nine but I was still pretty happy with the way I swung it, I just didn’t make any putts on the back nine but I’m still pretty happy.
"I don’t think I’ve ever been 16 under after two rounds.
"It’s good to play every once in a while on a course like this so you don’t have to suffer, you don’t feel like you’re losing two kilograms a week so it’s good to play a week like this.
"Obviously we know we’re going to have to make a lot of birdies to keep up with the guys and hopefully we will do at the weekend."
