Sjoland has come through a tough couple of years

R2 LEADERBOARD
(SA unless stated):

-12 P Sjoland (Swe)
-11 E Els, T Immelman
-9 R Goosen, A Raitt (GB)
-8 L Westwood (GB), L Oosthuizen, F Andersson Hed (Swe), S Van Vuuren, J Van Zyl

Sweden's Patrik Sjoland shot a course record round of 64 to take the halfway lead at the SAA Open in Port Elizabeth.

The 35-year-old lost his European Tour card in 2005 and only regained it at the recent qualifying school.

South Africa's Ernie Els and Trevor Immelman both shot 66 to be just one back on 11-under at the Humewood links.

Compatriot and title holder Retief Goosen (66) and England's Andrew Raiit (68) are nine-under. Lee Westwood is in a share of sixth place after a 68.

Sjoland played the first nine holes in just 30 strokes, five under, before parring the next five and then finishing with four straight birdies.

He said: "I only played two events in Europe this past year but, you know, the break from the game did me a lot of good.

It was very frustrating but at least I'm still in the hunt Lee Westwood on his missed putts in the second round

"After 10 straight years on tour it was nice to stay at home and spend time with the family. I went to Q-School refreshed."

Immelman picked up five shots in four holes from the 14th, eagling the 15th before a bogey at the last, while Els pitched in for an eagle two at the 16th.

"It's set up a for a great finish this weekend," said Els, who is still chasing his first win of 2006.

This is my last event of the year so I want the win badly, but I guess the other guys do too."

Goosen was pleased with his recovery after a poor first round but refused to talk about Thursday's sextuple-bogey 11 at the par-five 17th

"That's history, I've got nothing to say about it," said the world number five, who eagled the same hole in the second round.

Westwood was happy with his bogey-free round but was left to rue some missed chances.

"Although I hit the ball extremely well from tee to green, I missed a bunch of putts," said the Ryder Cup star.