A brilliant inward nine handed Henrik Stenson a one-shot lead at the halfway stage of the Nedbank Golf Challenge after a storm-affected second round at Gary Player Country Club.
Two hours and 11 minutes were lost in the middle of the day as lightning surrounded Sun City and heavy rain battered the course but Stenson reacted with five birdies after the delay to get to 11 under, a shot clear of local favourite Jaco Van Zyl.
The 2008 champion spent three days in bed with illness earlier in the week and only rated his chances of playing the event at five per cent on Tuesday afternoon.
But he followed up his opening 66 with a 67 to show he is getting over the virus and put his disappointing last-place finish at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai last time out firmly behind him.
"I'm surprised given that on Wednesday afternoon I didn't think I would be able to tee it up." he said. "I thought I was done and dusted, so to be leading after two days, it's a turnaround to say the least. But the saying is 'beware of the injured or sick golfer' and I guess that's true.
"I was not on a good run before the break. I didn't do too much wrong but managed to string three bogeys in a row, so at that time it was probably good to have a break, and it really cooled down afterwards for the back nine.
I got the putter going - that was hot at least - and made a couple of nice birdie putts. All in all a very good back nine turned an average round into a good one - Henrik Stenson
Van Zyl, who is searching for his first European Tour win, had held at least a share of the lead throughout the day before seven pars in a row saw him overtaken, but he was one shot clear of American Robert Streb with Marc Leishman at eight under.
"It felt a little like a duel between me and Henrik," said Van Zyl. "I looked at the leaderboard and I think we were two or three clear of the rest of the field. It's always good fun, especially if you're in the same group. You can kind of keep an eye on each other.
"There's good reason why he's Number Seven in the world, looking at the putts he made coming in.
"I've just figured this tournament is one of my dream events to play, and if I do really well here, it's a means and a way to get into my other dream event, which is the Masters. So I'm very well aware of what's going on around me here.
I don't feel that there's too much expectation, so I'll go out over the weekend and try and get a couple of low ones in there - Jaco Van Zyl
Stenson and Van Zyl both birdied the first and while the Swede repeated the trick at the next, Van Zyl put his approach close and made an eagle to take a one-shot lead.
A dropped shot on the fourth had Stenson back level and, after Van Zyl saw his fast birdie putt hit the hole and bounce up and out on the fifth, the 2013 Race to Dubai champion had the lead on his own courtesy of a birdie.
But a poor approach on the sixth left Stenson playing a chip while stood in a bunker and he could only advance the ball a few feet, dropping a shot, and the lead was once again shared at eight under.
That was his first bogey of the week but the second was not long coming on the next and once again Van Zyl was out in front on his own.
The 36 year old made an excellent par save on the eighth, holing a 15-foot putt after finding the sand off the tee and, when Stenson made it three bogeys in a row after missing the green himself, the lead was two shots.
Streb had been making steady progress and turned in 34 after birdies at the sixth and eighth but he made the green in two on the tenth and holed a lengthy putt for eagle to leap to seven under and cut the lead to one.
Then came the weather delay with the final group on the par five tenth, but that did not knock Van Zyl off his stride as he birdied the hole to get back to nine under.
And he soon became the first man into double figures when he put his approach at the 11th to within a foot with Stenson also picking up a shot.
Streb made a birdie thanks to a lengthy putt on the 13th and when Stenson also had a gain on the same hole to join him on eight under, the lead was back down to two shots.
Further birdies followed for the duo at the 14th to cut the lead to one and when Streb made it three in a row with the help of a nice bounce off the greenside bank at the 15th, he shared top spot.
A fantastic, late-breaking right-to-lefter saw Stenson make it a hat-trick of his own on the 15th to get to ten under, with Streb dropping to second on his own after failing to get up and down from the sand on the 16th.
Another bogey followed on the 17th but Streb put his approach on the last to within four feet to end the day with an eagle, six birdies and two bogeys.
Stenson's birdie run ended with a par on the 16th but he had the putter going on the back nine and when he rolled in a 25-foot effort on the 17th, he also had the lead on his own.
Australian Leishman had rolled in a 25-footer on the second for birdie but gave the shot back on the fourth before making a second gain of the day on the next. He then hit a brilliant shot off a path on the par five ninth to get on in two and make an unlikely birdie to turn in 34. He came back in 34 as well with with birdies on the 13th and 17th.
Kiradech Aphibarnrat had made a brilliant start with three birdies but dropped shots at the fifth and seventh to turn in 35. That did not derail his efforts, though, and birdies on the 13th, 14th and 17th put him in fifth on his own at six under.
Last year's runner-up Ross Fisher, who has finished in the top five on all three of his visits to Sun City, was then alone in sixth at four under after four birdies and three bogeys in his round.
Keegan Bradley, Emiliano Grillo, Bernd Wiesberger and Chris Wood were at three under alongside Scott Piercy who had eagles at the second and tenth in his round of 68.
Defending champion Danny Willett was in the group at two under after battling his way to a 75 with a back injury, with 20 of the 30-man field under par.
