Hahn shoots 61, vaults into lead at suspended Africa Open
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East London, South Africa (SportsNetwork.com) - John Hahn fired a 10-under 61 on Friday to vault into a 2-stroke lead at the Africa Open before play was suspended for darkness.
There was a halt in play for an hour and 35 minutes earlier in the day due to heavy rain, which eventually caused the suspension. The second round will resume at 12:15 a.m. ET Saturday.
Hahn, who is seeking his first career victory on the European Tour, finished 36 holes at East London Golf Club at 16-under-par 126.
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"I just got the putter hot early and it stayed hot all day. It turned into a good one," Hahn said about his round. "I hit a lot of fairways and greens and the greens I missed early in the round, I got up and down. I made a couple of putts you don't normally make and had a couple of unexpected ones go in."
First-round leader Ricardo Santos carded a 5-under 66 to sit in second place at 14-under 128, while Oliver Fisher shot an 8-under 63 to jump into solo third at 13-under 129.
David Horsey (64) is alone in fourth at 12-under, a shot ahead of Fabrizio Zanotti (66), Lucas Bjerregaard (67), Adam Gee (65), Emiliano Grillo (63) and Thomas Aiken (65).
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Hahn started his round on the ninth tee and opened his bogey-free round with a birdie. After parring his next four holes, the American converted another birdie effort at the 14th to move to 8-under.
He would par his next three holes before catching fire at the 18th, recording a birdie at the hole to start a streak of three straight. He did one better with an eagle at the third to pull within a shot of clubhouse leader Santos at 13-under.
A birdie at the fourth gave him a share of the lead, and he quickly pulled ahead with a gain at the sixth. He followed a par at the seventh with a birdie at the eighth to claim a 2-stroke lead heading into the weekend.
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Santos also started on the ninth hole and parred his first before recording a birdie at the 10th. He picked up another shot at the 13th to get to 11-under.
Santos later rolled in back-to-back gains at the third and fourth to snap a streak of seven straight pars and reached 14-under with a birdie at the seventh. He parred the eighth to end there.
"I was very pleased to score so well today, I really couldn't ask for much more," said Santos. "There is still a lot of golf to come, but I'm very happy with my position at the moment."
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NOTES: Santos was the European Tour's Rookie of the Year in 2012 ... This event is co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour ... The cut line currently sits at 5-under 137, with 67 players currently above that line. Wallie Coetsee and Sihwan Kim sit right on the number with three and four holes to play, respectively.