He might have been clad in new clothes after the airlines lost his luggage, but it was very much the old Hennie Otto who stormed to the front in the weather-affected second round of the Madeira Islands Open BPI – Portugal.
The 31 year old South African – who led The 2003 Open Championship at Royal St George’s after the first round – appeared to be playing a different course from the rest of the field at wind-lashed Santo da Serra as his second consecutive 67 gave him pole position on a hugely impressive ten under par total of 134.
Clad in a polo shirt, sweater and trousers he had to purchase from the club shop as his suitcase continues to circle around the myriad of lost luggage offices at Heathrow Airport in London, Otto shrugged off the two and a half hour delay to play caused by the high winds which moved golf balls on both tees and greens to produce some imperious golf.
Nearest challengers to finish their second rounds were South African-based Brazilian Adilson da Silva whose 68 gave him a five under par total of 139 while one shot behind that lay Scotland’s Alastair Forsyth who posted his second consecutive 70 for a four under par total of 140.
Because of the delay the entire afternoon section of the field did not complete their second rounds and of them, when the klaxon sounded, the best placed players were overnight leader Sven Strüver of Germany and Sweden’s Fredrik Widmark, who were both on six under par for the tournament through nine and six holes respectively.
But the day was all about Otto who continued to find the pace and line on the tricky and undulating Santo da Serra greens, knocking in four birdies in total in his 67, although the highlight of the round was his pitch in from ten yards off the green at the tenth for an eagle two after his wind assisted drive had travelled some 385 yards.
In his first round 67 he had 24 putts and only needed the blade 27 times in his second round and the South African admitted it was a lack of confidence on the greens since the world’s golfing focus fell upon him five years ago.
“I am hitting the ball better now than I did five years ago but my putting let me down. It just goes to prove that if you make a few putts then you can succeed. Since 2003 my putting has been on and off, there was no good average, it was just up and down all the time and you can’t succeed like that.
“My goal at the start of the week was to get into the top ten to get into next week because I am not in the tournament next week at the moment but if you play better than a top ten, then well done eh?
“In terms of getting my card, obviously a win takes care of everything but we should just take it day by day.”
Second placed in the clubhouse, Da Silva also had an eagle – although of the more conventional type at the par five third hole – in addition to four birdies in a solid round of 68 and revealed he will be perfectly placed to keep an eye on the leader – as the pair are sharing an apartment!
Although born in Brazil, he left in his teenage years and moved to South Africa and latterly Zimbabwe and as such, is friendly with all the South African players. “My main goal here was to get into the top ten to play next week but I also want to beat Otto!” he said.
One shot adrift of the Brazilian, Forsyth had an up and down day on the putting surfaces, making five birdies and an eagle in total but negating that with three three putts and another bogey at the 13th where, wind-assisted, he putted his ball off the green.
“I got off to an absolute flyer of a start and was three under par after two holes so I suppose two under at the end of the day is not that great,” said the 32 year old from Paisley.
“I kept getting to three under and then dropping a couple of shots I three putted a couple of times as well which was a bit careless but apart from that it was pretty solid and I have made a lot of birdies and so if I can keep going like that who knows what might happen.
“It is the first cut I’ve made all year. At the start of the year I wasn’t playing so well but at the last couple of tournaments in Asia, the Johnnie Walker and Malaysia, I should have done better there so I knew my game was getting better.
“That is the reason I’m here as I don’t always play here but the reason I’m here is to try and get some momentum going, get some confidence going and get myself on a golf course. At home the weather has been so bad that to go home this week and take more time off was just a no-brainer so to come here was ideal.”
The 72 players still on the course when the klaxon sounded to end play for the day will return on Saturday morning to resume their second rounds at 8.00am, meaning the third round – in three ball groupings from both the first and tenth tees, will not begin before 11.30am.
