Fisher leads in South Africa for second day in a row

ROSS FISHER shot a three-under-par 70 to put him top of leaderboard for the second consecutive day in the South African Airways Open.

Fisher carded a five-under-par 68 yesterday and yesterday's 70 left him eight-under-par five ahead of nearest challenger Retief Goosen, the world number four playing on home soil.

The English golfer's round included seven birdies, two bogeys and a double-bogey on the 448 yard par-4 12th, aptly named Sheer Murrrder.

He started with a drop when he missed a straightforward par putt on the first but came back quickly with birdie at the tough par-three second.

"I haven't played much links golf," he said. "I've played Lytham St Anne's maybe five times and the St Andrews Links when I played the British Amateur.

"My game isn't really suited to links courses but over the years I've managed to control the flight of my ball.

"I enjoy it though it's a great challenge. You really have to be imaginative around the greens."

Fisher is looking for his biggest win to date, with his best finish after turning professional in 2004 his joint fourth at the Volvo China Open three weeks ago, however he intends to concentrate on having fun for the remainder of the event and try to enjoy being in contention.

South African Tim Clark, the defending champion who led after day one with Fisher, slipped down to joint sixth with a five-over-par 78.

Second-placed Goosen was looking forward to the final two days, especially since he is known for his ability to excel in difficult scoring conditions.

Goosen began with a par but floundered when he three-putted the second for bogey.

"That was a ridiculous pin position. If you put your ball on the top half of the green it's impossible to two-putt you'll leave yourself with a guaranteed 15-footer coming back up the slope," he complained.

However, he added: "I was much more consistent today. I kept the ball in play and although I still wasn't happy with my swing, I ground it out and got a result."