Durban, South Africa (SportsNetwork.com) - Daniel Brooks carded four birdies through 11 holes on Friday and overcame Jorge Campillo's 59 to maintain his lead at the Nelson Mandela Championship before play was once again suspended due to darkness.
The event, which started Wednesday to accommodate the funeral of its namesake, Nelson Mandela, has been reduced to 54 holes after three days of suspensions and weather delays brought on by heavy rain in Durban.
The first round finally wrapped up Friday after a three-hour delay, with Brooks' maintaining the lead at 8-under 62, which he carded on Wednesday. In the second round, Campillo fired an 11-under 59 to grab the clubhouse lead at 11-under 129 through 36 holes. He was joined there by Matthew Baldwin (62), but Brooks eventually surpassed the duo, playing his first 11 holes at 4-under to move to minus-12 for the tournament before darkness set in.
Colin Nel joined Brooks in shooting 59 on Friday, but the scores, which would have marked a new European Tour record, were deemed unofficial because the round was played with preferred lies. Nel is tied for 27th place at 4-under after carding a 77 in the opening round.
Branden Grace, a four-time European Tour winner in 2012, and Oliver Bekker both carded 66s at Mount Edgecombe Country Club to move into a share of fourth place at 10-under. Dawie Van Der Walt is 10-under for the event and 7-under through 13 second-round holes.
"I'm right up there again and it's all about the putting," stated Grace. "If I can keep rolling the ball well then hopefully tomorrow will be one more memory of lifting a trophy. It would be great to finish the year off with a win."
The second round will resume Friday night at 11 p.m. (ET). The third and final round will be a two-tee start and will not begin before 2:15 a.m.
Although it was unofficial, Campillo put together a spectacular second round on Friday.
Starting from the 10th tee, the Spaniard carded three birdies and an eagle to turn in 31 and he didn't relent during his inward stretch.
Campillo birdied the first, holed a 25-foot birdie putt at the third, chipped over a greenside bunker and into the cup for eagle at the par-4 fourth and dropped his tee shot within six feet at the fifth, kicking that in for a birdie.
At the eighth, Campillo two-putted from 20 feet for birdie to reach 11-under and he secured the 59 with a par at the ninth.
"I was never close to 59 before, but in the KLM Open I was 8-under with three holes to go on a par-70," he said. "Finishing with three birdies would have put me on 59, but I finished par-par-bogey. That helped me a lot today, because finishing well was important and I did it."
Baldwin then joined Campillo in the clubhouse lead, mixing six birdies and an eagle to reach 11-under before Brooks had teed off.
"I don't think tiredness comes into it -- what does come into it is the fact that you're playing a lot of holes close together," explained Baldwin. "For example, I played 21 holes in a short space of time today and by the time I finished I was quiet tired, so getting some rest in will be important for tomorrow."
When he did hit the course, Brooks started from the 10th tee and quickly drew level, notching three birdies over his first six holes to reach minus-11. The Qualifying School graduate added another birdie at the first, holing a 20- footer there, to move in front and then parred the second before darkness halted play.
NOTES: Mount Edgecombe Country Club has been modified to a par-70 layout from a par-71 due to the waterlogged conditions ... There will be a cut to 65 and ties at the close of round two ... Brooks is ranked 452nd in the world ... Mandela's funeral will take place on Sunday ... Defending champion Scott Jamieson is tied for 45th place at 2-under-par 138 through 36 holes.
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