Soderberg leads after second round of Mauritius Open

Sweden’s Sebastian Soderberg mastered difficult conditions at the Mauritius Open on Friday to take the lead after the second round with a one-shot advantage over the chasing pack at the La Reserve Golf Club.

Soderberg, who was seven shots behind after Thursday’s first round, moved rapidly up the leaderboard as he made six birdies on the front nine and finished with the day’s best score of 65, for a two-round, 10-under-par total of 134.

“It was one of those days where it felt kind of easy. It was windy but I was hitting my driver very well and my short game was really good,” said Soderberg, one of the early finishers who then watched as the majority of the field battled on the links-style course.

One shot behind are South African Jacques de Villiers and German Marcel Schneider, who both finished strongly. De Villiers eagled his penultimate hole while Schneider hit four birdies on his back nine.

Defending champion and overnight leader Antoine Rozner shared the lead with Soderbergh until a double bogey on the 13th and finished the day with a 74, which contrasted starkly with his first-round 62 on Thursday.

Tied with the Frenchman on eight-under-par 136 is the English pair of Daniel Brown and Paul Waring, who had contrasting fortunes. Waring hit a 73 but Brown managed a second successive 68.

The tournament is the last of the year on the DP World Tour.

(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Toby Davis)