Carrera carded a solid 67 on the East Course at Royal Joburg to move to seven-under-par, sharing the lead with South Africans Jonathan Broomhead, Pieter Moolman, and George Coetzee.

After a tough opening round, Broomhead bounced back brilliantly with a 65 on Friday. Moolman also returned a 67, while Coetzee posted a steady 70 to remain in the hunt.

The leading quartet holds a one-shot advantage over Daniel van Tonder and Bloemfontein’s MJ Viljoen.

Carrera has been in dominant form on the Sunshine Tour this season. After clinching victory at the Qualifying School in April, he’s gone on to win the opening two events – the FBC Zim Open and the Kit Kat Cash & Carry Pro-Am.

“Winning three in a row would be amazing, but I’m taking it one day at a time,” said Carrera, who is enjoying both his debut in this tournament and his first experience of the iconic East Course, played this week as a composite nine-hole layout repeated twice per round.

“I think the course is brilliant. It’s very testing and demands a lot of quality mid-irons. The field is strong – there are some big names out here – so it’s going to be a great battle,” he added.

Jonathan Broomhead. Photo: Sunshine Tour

Broomhead was delighted with his turnaround, especially after narrowly missing out on victory last week at the Kit Kat Cash & Carry Pro-Am.

“The first round was seriously tough. Felt like we made all the birdies, but also gave away too many bogeys. Today was much better – I got off to a good start and made four birdies in a row in the middle of the round. I struck the ball nicely and holed some crucial putts,” he said.

He’s also enjoyed the unique format this week.

“It’s a really cool tournament. I love how the course has been set up. It keeps you focused because when you play the same nine again, it’s easy to think, ‘I’ve done this already’. But that’s when mistakes creep in. I just want to keep this momentum going into the weekend.”

Meanwhile, Nadia van der Westhuizen leads the Sunshine Ladies Tour contingent on one-under-par after a tidy second-round 69.

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek cg