• Africa Open, Round Two

Oosthuizen hits the front after blistering 62

Louis Oosthuizen was too hot to handle on Friday © Getty Images

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Defending champion Louis Oosthuizen improved his chances of claiming back-to-back victories at the Africa Open, as he snatched the halfway lead with a magnificent round of 62.

After an underwhelming start at East London Golf Club on day one, the 2010 Open champion took advantage of early morning conditions conducive to good scoring to reach 11-under for the round - and two shots clear of the field at 15-under for the tournament.

"Today I was a bit more aggressive, trusting my swing a bit more, going at the flags and it paid off," Oosthuizen said.

A birdie at the ninth, Oosthuizen's first, was an early warning of what was to come, but it was at the conclusion of his round where the South African really made his mark, as a hot putter saw him add three birdies and an eagle - at the driveable par-four sixth, where he made double-bogey on Thursday - in his final six holes to leapfrog to the top of the 36-hole leaderboard.

Oosthuizen's compatriot Thomas Aiken had led after round one but, after seeing his lead overhauled before he could even hit his opening drive of the second round, the reigning Open de Espana champion failed to replicate his opening 64.

It initially looked like he might even surpass that round after engineering three birdies in his opening four holes, but Aiken found scoring much harder on the back nine as a bogey at the 18th ultimately saw him drop two off Oosthuizen's brisk pace at 13-under, eventually signing for a round of 69.

That put him on level terms with playing partner Retief Goosen, who edged him on the day with a round of 68 to position himself as the other strong challenger to Oosthuizen's charge. Two bogeys and seven birdies - three of those on the back nine - saw the two-time major champion ease himself into contention.

Tjaart van der Walt also sits at 13-under following a round of 64, with a host of British players attempting to break the domestic domination two shots further back. At 11-under, Alastair Forsyth, Tommy Fleetwood, Danny Willett and Craig Lee are all in position to make strong starts to their 2012 European Tour campaign.

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