Rock takes lead before storms overtake South Africa

Golf Betting Lines

01/13/2012 - Johannesburg, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Robert Rock shot a four-under 67 on the West Course in his second round to grab a one-stroke lead as storms washed out Friday's play at the Joburg Open.

After a four-hour delay on Thursday prevented the first round from being completed at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club, thunderstorms came through again on Friday and disrupted play further. The first round was completed Friday morning, but second-round play is far from finished.

The round was halted at 7:37 a.m. (et) and eventually called for the day and will resume at 11:45 p.m. (et) with several players yet to tee off. Saturday's weather calls for a chance of more thunderstorms, so it remains to be seen whether the tournament will see 72 holes.

Rock followed his impressive seven-under 65 on the more difficult par-72 East Course with a four-under on the par-71 West Course to total 11-under 132. He's looking to build off his first European Tour victory last year at the Italian Open, but may be caught by the time the cut is made.

Right behind him are Jbe Kruger and Branden Grace, both of whom shot 67s on the East Course and five-under 66s on the West Course Friday to get to 10- under 133. Michiel Bothma (66) sits tied for fourth at nine-under with George Coetzee, who is the top player out on the course at minus-nine with 12 holes remaining.

First-round leaders Damien McGrane and Jamie Elson can still retain that title with good second rounds; McGrane sits at seven-under through three holes on the East Course, while Elson has yet to tee off on the same course.

Although Rock leads, he bucked the trend of the East playing more difficult by posting a worse score on the West Course.

Rock started his tournament on Thursday with an eagle, and began Friday's second round with an eagle at the second hole to quickly get to nine-under. He bogeyed the eighth before a birdie at the ninth kept him at that number around the turn.

A bogey at No. 12 dropped Rock to eight-under, but he followed with three consecutive birdies to move atop the leaderboard. Grace would have finished at 11-under as well, but a bogey at the last dropped him one behind.

Two-time defending champion Charl Schwartzel completed 36 holes at three-under 140 after a three-under 68 on the West Course, but still has a lot of ground to make up if he's to become the sixth European Tour player to win the same tournament three years in a row.

NOTES: Currently, Sunday's forecast calls for no precipitation...South African Retief Goosen is seven-under through six holes of his second round on the East Course.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.