Scotland's David Drysdale shot a second round 66 to move into a one-stroke lead at the halfway mark of the Joburg Open here at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club on Friday. The 33-year-old from Edinburgh had carded a 65 in his opening round of this co-sanctioned European/Sunshine Tour event. Drysdale, playing on the easier West Course on Friday following his opening round on the East Course, recorded five birdies at the second, fourth, seventh and ninth in a front nine of 32 with a further birdie at the 15th for a 34 coming home. In joint second place, and just one shot back, is South Africa's Oliver Bekker and Northern Ireland's Michael Hoey. Bekker shot an impressive 65, while Hoey, who led at one stage in Thursday's opening round, carded a 68. Lying two shots off the pace are England's Danny Willett and local professional Andrew McLardy who respectively shot 66 and 68 in the second round. The big mover on the second day was local favorite and defending champion Richard Sterne. After a rather disappointing opening round of level par 71 which included three bogeys on the tough East Course, Sterne hit back on Friday with a round of 66. He is now just five shots off the lead with two rounds remaining. Also back in contention is two-time US Open champion Retief Goosen who carded a second round 68 to go with his opening score of 70. Though at four under par, he has some way to go to catch the leaders. Thursday's first round leaders, South Africa's Trevor Fisher and Sweden's Steven Jeppeson, who both shot 63 on Thursday, found the going much tougher on Friday after carding second round scores of 79 and 76 respectively. Asia makes headway against Europe In Thailand, Asia took a commanding 3-1 lead over twice-winner Europe on day one of the Royal Trophy on Friday with wins in all but one of their foursomes matches. Yet to win the competition, the Asians started poorly but showed consistency after the midway point to take the upper hand over a jaded European team which struggled in blustery conditions at the Amata Spring Country Club. Thai pairing Thongchai Jaidee and Prayad Marksaeng underlined their familiarity with the course in their 5&4 victory over Niclas Fasth and Johan Edfors, who carded five bogeys and two birdies on a miserable round of 14 holes. The Thais hit four birdies and two bogeys to seal Asia's first win of the day. Charlie Wi and Liang Wenchong rebounded to secure a 2 up win after a poor start. They trailed for 12 of the holes before Paul McGinley and Pablo Larrazabal's form took a nosedive on the back nine. Spaniard Larrazabal had seized the early initiative with a stunning bunker shot on the second, which travelled 180 yards and fell three feet short of the pin to set up an eagle, but the Asian pair slowly climbed back. Soren Hansen and former Open champion Paul Lawrie also started poorly but carded birdies on the 16th and 17th on a blemish-free back nine to beat Ryo Ishikawa and Toru Taniguchi 2&1.
