Garrick Higgo and Dylan Frittelli in the hunt at Honda Classic

Cape Town – South Africa’s Garrick Higgo and Dylan Frittelli carded a pair of two-under 68s to share 10th place at the Honda Classic at the Champions Course in Florida, on Thursday.

American Kurt Kitayama leads the way on six-under 64, one ahead of former South African Rory Sabbatini who now represents Slovakia.

Higgo began his day on the 10th tee, and was off and running when he holed a monster 73-foot birdie putt at the par four 11th. He gave that shot back with a bogey five at 13, before holing another long birdie putt - this time a 35-footer at the par three 17th. Another gain followed at the par five ninth as the 22-year-old made the turn in two-under.

A birdie four at the third followed, and a three at the par four fourth moved Higgo to four-under for the round. However, bogeys at the par threes - the fifth and seventh - dropped Higgo back down the leaderboard, but he still held a place in the top-10 to conclude his round.

All @Garrick_Higgo can do is laugh.Tough lip out on his eagle putt. pic.twitter.com/sgtDPJpQc0

Frittelli, meanwhile, began his day with eight straight pars after also starting on the 10th. A birdie at the par five 18th meant he dipped under par as he began his assault of the front nine.

The 31-year-old Frittelli poured in an 11-footer at the par four second for birdie to move to three-under, before a two-putt birdie at the par five third meant a rise to three-under. A missed green at the par four fourth resulted in a bogey, before a pulled tee shot into a water hazard at the par four sixth meant another bogey for Frittelli as he dropped to one-under.

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A solid tee shot at the 213-metre par three seventh left a 10-footer for birdie