Irishman Lawrie in Cape contention

DEFENDING champion Tim Clark carded a second successive 67 for a 10-under halfway total and three-shot lead over Irish rookie Peter Lawrie and Scot Andrew Coltart in the South African Airways Open in Cape Town.

Nick Dougherty shared fourth with Holland's Rolf Muntz and Ireland's Gary Murphy and was delighted to have got back on track in his first event of the season.

Lawrie is in his first season on the European Tour after finishing second and then first in the final two events on the Challenge Tour last year to earn his card.

The 28-year-old Dubliner had been trying for four years to achieve a coveted players' badge, but then promptly left it at home when he finally did earn one.

He made the cut in both events in Taiwan and Hong Kong at the start of the season late last year, however, including back-to-back eagles in Hong Kong courtesy of a hole-in-one followed by a three on the following par five.

"I always seem to play well after a break," said Lawrie.

"I haven't played competitively since Hong Kong and hardly touched a club since. I think when I play too much I think too much about it.

"I'll play each shot as it comes over the weekend and not look at anyone else. I haven't played in front of big crowds before but I don't think it will bother me."

Dougherty yesterday rediscovered the form which made him the European Tour rookie of the year

Dougherty's third-place finish in the German Masters late last season effectively sealed the award for the 20-year-old, exactly a quarter of a century after his mentor Nick Faldo did the same.

But the remaining four events of the season were a nightmare for the Lancastrian who was a collective 30 over par, missed three cuts and was almost last in the limited field Volvo Masters which has no halfway cut.

Borrowing his dad's driver appears to have done the trick, however, and Dougherty carded a superb second-round 66 to equal the course record at Erinvale and move into contention.

"It's an important week for me because I played pretty badly at the end of last year after Germany," said Dougherty, whose best finish on tour is second at the Qatar Masters last year.

"A lot of it is to do with messing around with my driver, and I must be some kind of clown to be doing it because I drove fantastically well in Germany. Since then I've been chopping and changing week to week and I'm using my dad's driver now."

Coltart recovered from a double-bogey six at the sixth to add a 69 to his opening 68 after a busy winter around the birth of his second daughter, Florence Elizabeth.

"She was born on December 18 and has occupied my attention," said the former Ryder Cup player.

"I played a little bit, 12 holes here or there to keep my in, and my wife's done a great job with the little one.

"I've been working very hard for the last four years and have had very little to show for it yet. This winter was possibly the least amount of work done but the most amount of fun I've had.

"I've just gone out and played, as opposed to standing on the range for six hours in the freezing cold hitting balls and worrying about every single golf swing.

"That's not what playing the game is about, so I intentionally went out just to play rather than practise. We'll see what the rest of the season brings."