ANY old irons put Simon Dyson back in the mix for a seventh European Tour crown.

The York-born ace goes into tomorrow's third round of the Joburg Open in a three-way tie for second place after he fired a five-under-par 67 on the east course of the Royal Johannesburg & Kensington Golf Club to follow on from his opening 65 on the West Course to post an 11-under-par halfway total.

That left him a mere shot off midpoint leader Wallie Coetsee of the host nation and tied with two other South Africans Garth Mulroy and Tjaart van der Walt. Dyson, 37, revealed that, after early-season problems with new clubs, he turned to his old irons for this week’s tournament.

Said the world number 148: “It’s been a while since I’ve been up there.

“I’ve been playing all right, but at the beginning of the season I changed my irons and they were costing me dearly - I didn’t have a clue how far they were going.

“This is the first week I’ve put my old set back in the bag and all of a sudden I’m hitting it pin high again.

That makes a heck of a difference.”

Dyson birdied five of his first ten holes before dropping his only shot of the day at the 12th, but converted from 15 feet for a gain at the 17th.

“I didn’t play as well as (Thursday), but I scored pretty well,” he added.

“I made four birdies on the front nine and I birdied the par fives - if you get your drives away then they’re all pretty good chances. There was some luck. I got fortunate on ten: I pushed my drive down there and managed to get a shot, hit to about three feet and knocked that in, which was a bonus. It was a good day.”