CHRIS Paisley, the former Walker Cup player from Northumberland, was still waiting to hit his first ball as a European Tour player after the opening event of the season suffered a total wipe-out for the second day running in South Africa following further torrential rain.
A massive electrical storm yielded almost 30mm of rain overnight at the Nelson Mandela Championship at Royal Durban.
With next week’s Alfred Dunhill Championship also taking place in South Africa, officials have the option of extending into Monday – but first the course has to become playable.
Meanwhile, Marcus Fraser leads the Australian Open by one shot but day two belonged to Tom Watson after the veteran American carded a classy four-under 68 to make the cut by a solitary stroke at The Lakes.
Fraser carded his second straight round of three-under 69 in benign morning conditions to get to six under for the tournament, one clear of Brendan Jones (71) and overnight leader John Senden.
It was a rollercoaster round for Senden, who posted five bogeys and four birdies in the worst of the testing afternoon conditions en route to a disappointing one-over 73.
Australia’s Nick Cullen is in outright fourth at minus four after carding a solid 70 in the afternoon.
He sits one clear of a group of six golfers that includes Steven Jones (68) and Englishman Justin Rose, who matched Senden’s one-over 73.
China’s world number six Shanshan Feng will take a five-stroke lead into the final day of the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters.
Feng showed her class with three closing birdies for a 67 after Dutch player Dewi Claire Schreefel broke the Emirates women’s course record with a dazzling nine-under-par 63, three shots better than her previous lowest round on the Ladies European Tour.
That lifted the 27-year-old from 13th to second on 13 under, but Feng remains firmly on course for another win six months after her victory at the LPGA Championship made her the first Chinese golfer, male or female, to lift a major title.
France’s Gwladys Nocera is in third place after a third successive 68, while German Caroline Masson still has a chance of pipping Spaniard Carlota Ciganda to the money list title.
