Beaming Oliver Bekker bags course record 10-under 62 at Ras Al Khaimah Classic

Johannesburg - South Africa’s Oliver Bekker shot a course record 10-under 62 at Al Hamra Golf Course to rocket up 102 places to second on day two of the Ras Al Khaimah Classic, in the United Arab Emirates, on Friday.

Bekker moved to nine-under overall, tied for second place along with Justin Harding and Zander Lombard. Harding carded a fine five-under 67, while Lombard almost matched Bekker’s exploits with a scintillating nine-under 63. Lombard also shot up the leaderboard, 82 positions on the day.

Leading the way on 12-under is New Zealand’s Ryan Fox.

Beginning the day on the 10th tee in 104th position after a one-over 73 in round one, Bekker needed a good day just to make the cut. That mark was quickly left in the rearview mirror as he reeled off three birdies and an eagle in his opening seven holes. Bekker then put together four birdies in a row from the 18th as breaking 60 became a possibility.

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His lone bogey of the round came at the par four fifth to rule out his chances of shooting 59, but he still responded with two birdies in succession to move into double figures under par for his round.

"After yesterday's start I knew I had to go low today so I kind of had nothing to lose,” Bekker said.

"Then I left one short from 12 feet on the first hole and I thought, 'oh my word, you need to get it going’.

"Then I managed to make a nice putt on 12 for birdie, then on 13 I made birdie and another nice putt for eagle on 14 and that really got me going. From there I just kept the momentum.

"After I was about nine under par I thought there's still a few gettable holes out there coming in and if I can make one or two more and just keep the run