The South African professional's second-round 69 followed an impressive performance in the first round where he carded a near-flawless 65, dropping just a single shot. In the second round, he made one eagle, five birdies, and four bogeys. Howell had a modest start, making bogeys on his first two holes before bouncing back with consecutive birdies in the next two, on number three and four. He then made par on the fifth before going on to birdie the sixth and eighth holes. At the turn, Howell once again stumbled, carding back to back bogeys on number 11 and 12. He then recovered with an eagle on the par-five 13th hole. His final birdie came on the 15th hole, helping him maintain his lead at the top of the leaderboard. Second placed Van der Merwe, who started round two tied for 12th on one-under-par 71, signed for an eight-under-par 64, the best round of the day.