Rowan Lester will go into the weekend in a tie for 26th at the Sunshine Tour’s FCB Zimbabwe Open, but it was a round to forget for Liam Grehan who won’t feature in rounds three or four.
Lester began the day at three-under and remained that way at the turn after a single birdie and a single bogey on his opening nine holes. He made it to the eighth tee – his 16th hole – at one-under for the round after two birdies and a bogey, but a double bogey threatened to leave a bad taste in his mouth.
He regrouped to birdie the last, leaving him back where he started at -3 but he’s just three shots outside the top 10 with 36 holes left to play.
Grehan started the round one shot behind his housemate, but a horror run of four bogeys in succession and five in the space of six holes left him with lots of work to do over his final nine holes.
Two birdies in the first five holes on his way home gave him a chance, but he paid the price for being too aggressive on the sixth and that ended his chances of making it back-to-back made cuts to start the 2026 campaign.
Amateur Andries van der Vyver will head into the weekend just two strokes off the lead of Chilean professional, Tomas Gana.
Gana signed for a solid four-under-par 68 at the Royal Harare Golf Club for a tournament total of 11 under par as he continues his quest for a victory in his first Sunshine Tour event of the new season.
But behind him, GolfRSA National Squad member Van Der Vyver impressed with his round of 67 to join Altin van der Merwe (68) in second place on nine under par.
Van Der Vyver has established himself as one of the rising stars of South African golf and will be taking up a scholarship at Augusta University this July. He is also looking for a rare double in this event, having won the Zimbabwe Junior Open.
Australia’s Austin Bautista, who finished second in this event last year, heads into the weekend in contention on eight under par.
Gana is looking to make his own piece of FBC Zim Open history. After Mexico’s Luis Carrera managed to become the first non-South African winner of the FBC Zim Open in 24 years with his victory last year, Gana is now aiming to keep that trend going.
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