Harry live from Joburg Pt2

Last updated: 15th January 2010

Having a driver is a luxury to which I could be become accustomed, especially after we pulled away from the Clubhouse yesterday leaving a group of slightly irate players including Chris Wood waiting around in a mini-van.

Alex posed me a very tricky question on the way home. What do you prefer Cricket or Golf? It is a difficult question bearing in mind I've purchased both a Joburg Open 2010 and an English Cricket baseball cap.

After a long deliberation the answer was - playing golf and watching cricket. I guess I'm just bitter after wasting too many Saturday mornings sat in the pavilion after being bowled out for a 'Strauss' (the England skipper went first ball on Thursday) and the rest of the day fielding at square leg waiting to drop a hand breaking catch.

Mind you watching cricket so far hasn't proved any more fulfilling after witnessing one of England's worst opening sessions in living memory. I departed the Wanderers at the same time Collingwood departed the crease and England were a paltry 115-5.

At the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club time has been better spent catching up with the Sheffield Whizz Kid aka 22-year-old Danny Willett.

In fact I think it's time to jazz golf up a little and we should give all golfers a nickname, a proper one like boxers and not just rubbish like 'Tiger', 'Lefty' and 'The Goose'.

The players should come onto the first tee to a theme tune. The Whizz Kid could come on to 'Son of a Preacher Man'. You may ask why and the answer is he is.

The Whizz Kid shot the low round of the day (-6) on Thursday on the more difficult East Course and followed it up with a fair 67 (-4) on the West Course on Friday.

He remembers our encounter at Killeen Castle last year with a fond smile. He spent his time off practising at Graham Walker's covered range near his home but he hasn't actually played any golf due to the poor weather conditions in the UK. After his first practice round on Monday he said, "It's the first time I've seen grass in six weeks!"

Graham (no nicknames for coaches) has come out to Joburg and can offer the Whizz Kid any guidance he requires this week. Although he may have difficulty getting hold of him as Graham has his hands full with fellow pupils Paul 'The Warrior' Waring, who after a second round 77 is in 180th place, and David 'The Thoroughbred' Horsey who just made the cut at three under par.

The Whizz Kid put the new grooves in his bag after the Race to Dubai finale and says, "I like the new grooves. I spin it the same from the fairway but from rough it brings in a bit more shot making and creativity, which I like."

He's been making a few changes to the swing. "They're just very small things in the grip and position of the club on the way back. It may not be noticeable on the TV but it feels very different. It's going to take time to get comfortable but hopefully in the next few weeks it will be fine."

After a successful rookie year on tour his goal is to get that first win: "I was third or so in top 10s last year and played consistent but was disappointed not to get into contention more."

Talking about playing the East Course he said: "If you hit it long and straight it makes it easy and the course is there for the taking. It's not too difficult finding the right yardage although we did have a couple of wedges that went silly distances like 160 yards. It's good to have Malcolm on the bag and he has lots of experience."

His caddie Malcolm Mason first caddied on Tour in 1984. He has 14 tour wins under his belt, and a British Masters win with Sam Torrance tops the list. His steady influence could pay dividends over the weekend.

The Whizz Kid admitted he scrapped it round a little bit on Friday so he was going to the range to work on his game and forego a trip to watch the cricket much to Malcolm's chagrin.

One of the other players at 10 under is JBE 'The Crusher' Kruger who seems to play every week (he's only missed one tournament since the end of August when he won the Zambia Open) and he seems to be enjoying himself. "I like the East Course. I like courses to be a bit longer. I like hitting long irons."

The Crusher is getting used to big tournaments, "I'm feeling more comfortable in the company. I mean, I found myself standing next to people like Colin Montgomerie on the range in Asia, and that wasn't easy."

The halfway leader is David 'The Lynch Man' Lynn who has been off for over 10 weeks since pulling out of the Castello Masters after hitting two shots due a pain in his wrist. He has since found out he has tendonitis and is using an anti inflammatory cream but still finds it painful on some shots.

He said: "I played pretty solid, anything under par on the East Course is a good score. I haven't hit an awful lot of shots and it's a bit of a surprise really."

Charl 'The Machine Gun' Schwartzel continues his good form and lies just one shot adrift of The Lynch Man. He is currently ranked 51 in the world and desperate to get into the top 50.

Darren 'The Cleaner' Clarke has been coming to Joburg for 21 years and is once again playing excellent golf at a venue where he is very comfortable. He joins the others at 10 under and is sure to feature strongly on the weekend.

Hiding just behind the leaders at nine under is James 'The Calm before the Storm' Kamte - the 150/1 pre tournament pick of Golf365 tipster Dave 'The Long Shot' John. I hope you listened to his advice.

It's time to change hats and head down back to the Wanderers.