McKibbin equals Royal Cape record to take Cape Town Open lead

Northern Ireland's Tom McKibbin equalled the course record at Royal Cape Golf Club on Friday to take the lead heading into the weekend of the Cape Town Open.

19-year-old McKibbin produced a stellar second round of 10-under-par 62 to sit on top of the leaderboard on 14-under par.

McKibbin, who shoulders the weight of being from the same Holywood Golf Club as Rory McIlroy, is three strokes clear of South Africa's Zander Lombard and Spain's Ivan Cantero Gutierrez.

On a windless Friday morning, McKibbin arrived at Royal Cape and birdied his first seven holes for a front nine of 29. He added three more birdies on the back nine, maintaining his bogey-less tournament so far.

"It was really good. I was going out there just to try and shoot a good round and I started off with seven birdies in a row, which was very surprising. Especially around here with how tight this golf course is. It was a very special day," he said.

McKibbin says he takes greater pride in not having made a bogey over the past two rounds.

"I think not dropping a shot in two rounds is pretty special for me because both courses are tight. There wasn't as much wind today and I took advantage of those conditions," he said.

"The practice rounds were real windy so I thought it was going to be pretty hard this week. But with that kind of start it's easy to get ahead of yourself and stop that momentum with a bogey. I just took it one shot at a time and I think I handled it pretty well."  

At Rondebosch Golf Club, Lombard signed a second round of 7-under par 65 and shares second with Cantero Gutierrez, who posted a 68 on the same golf course.

The tournament's first two rounds are shared on both courses, with the final two rounds set to be played solely at Royal Cape Golf Club.

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