Several players, including former champion Lee-Anne Pace, made a hard charge for the top spot, but 19-year-old Ivanna Samu edged another step closer to a maiden professional win as she maintained a slender one-shot lead in the Cape Town Ladies Open on Wednesday.
The Ruimsig golfer heads a packed leaderboard at eight under after carding a second round 72 at Royal Cape Golf Club.
Swedish newcomer Anna Sventrup and former Sunshine Ladies Tour winner Kiran Matharu from England are hot on her heels, while Pace lurks two shots back.
Rachel Raastad from Norway and Anne-Lise Caudal from France are within striking distance at four under and, at three under, Canon Ladies Tshwane Open champion Stacy Bregman (who won the inaugural Cape Town Ladies Open in 2015) and Nicole Garcia cannot be discounted.
For Samu, even contemplating a breakthrough victory was almost too much to handle.
‘It would be beyond words,’ she said. ‘I am trying not to get ahead of myself and staying in the moment. I know I am going to have to be patient.
‘Even today I felt a lot more emotion on the course because I wasn’t hitting my tee shots as straight as I would have liked. But in the end, I recovered well and that gives me a lot of confidence going into the final round.
‘The wind picked up and I struggled a bit with club selection, but I’m still enjoying every moment. I have a personal goal going into the final round. I want to get into double figures under par, and I want to pull back some shots on some holes that gave me trouble today.’
Meanwhile Matharu fired the day’s best, a seven-under-par 67 that included five birdies and a hole-out eagle on the par-four 1st hole.
The Englishwoman, who won the Canon Ladies Tshwane Open 12 months ago, attributed her change in fortunes to a slight tweak in her putting stroke. ‘I actually played pretty well yesterday,’ she explained of her even-par opening round.
‘I came up short on a few iron shots and I missed a few short putts, but I spent quite a bit of time on the putting green with my putting coach (Warren Lake). I adjusted well to the speed of the greens, and it was much better today.’
LPGA Tour winner Pace will have her work cut out to capture the title she last won in 2016.
Samu led the field as an amateur in the first round the year Pace won, and gained a lot of experience competing on the local circuit since. If Pace hopes to add a 12th trophy to her mantle, she will have to make up a three-shot deficit on Samu.
‘She is a very promising young talent,’ said Pace. ‘She is a really good ball striker, and the course suits her because of all the par fives, where she probably has an iron into the greens. She will be tough to catch.
‘Even if the wind gets up around here, you can still shoot under par because the greens run so true. But if there is no wind on Thursday, I’m probably going to have to shoot at least six-under to have a chance.’
The 36-year-old admitted to feeling a bit rusty after coming out of the off-season, but has been encouraged by her game over the first two rounds.
‘I’m hitting some really nice golf shots and controlling the ball flight well,’ she explained. ‘When that happens, I know that my swing is in a good place. I feel like I just need to eliminate the small mistakes, and hopefully I can get my hands back on that trophy.’
Spanish golfer Maria Beautell made the cut to 30 and ties at six-over on the nose after she holed out at the par three 8th. ‘I had 135m to the hole and hit a six-iron with a little fade and we watched it disappear into the hole,’ said Beautell. ‘That was my first ever hole-in-one in a tournament and it couldn’t have come at a better time.’
Three amateurs progressed to the final round, with Casandra Hall and Jordan Rothman leading the charge on three-over, with Royal Cape member Zayb Fredericks a further shot back.
Second round leaderboard:
All competitors are RSA unless otherwise specified and amateurs are indicated as AMA:
140 – Ivanna Samu 68 72
141 – Anna Sventrup (SWE) 72 69, Kiran Matharu (ENG) 74 67
143 – Lee-Anne Pace 71 72
144 – Rachel Raastad (NOR) 70 74, Anne-Lise Caudal (FRA) 74 70
145 – Stacy Bregman 72 73, Nicole Garcia 70 75
147 – Mariell Bruun (NOR) 72 75, Bonita Bredenhann (NAM) 70 77, Tandi Mc Callum 73 74, Kim Williams 71 76
148 – Valeria Martinoli (SUI) 73 75, Lejan Lewthwaite 74 74, Hayley Davis (ENG) 69 79, Nobuhle Dlamini (SWZ) 77 71
149 – Mae Cornforth 72 77, Melissa Eaton 77 72
150 – Rachael Goodall (ENG) 72 78, Hanna Roos (SWE) 74 76
151 – Lara Weinstein 73 78, Casandra Hall AMA 75 76, Clara Pietri (SUI) 78 73, Hannah Arnold (USA) 75 76, Jordan Rothman AMA 77 74, Lauren Taylor (ENG) 74 77
152 – Zayb Fredericks AMA 77 75, Emie Peronnin (FRA) 73 79
153 – Flora Peuch (FRA) 77 76
154 – Yolanda Duma 72 82, Rachel Rossel (SUI) 77 77, Laura Fuenfstueck (GER) 75 79, Maria Beautell (ESP) 74 80
Missed the cut:-
155 – Alana van Greuning 75 80, Shawnelle de Lange 73 82, Bertine Strauss 79 76, Alexandra Lennartsson (SWE) 75 80
156 – Lindi Coetzee AMA 79 77
157 – Katia Shaff AMA (AUT) 77 80, Tijana Kraljevic 76 81, Nastja Banovec (SVN) 79 78
158 – Leslie Grandet (MAD) 80 78, Cassidy Williams AMA 76 82, Marguerite Pienaar 79 79, Jamila Jaxaliyeva (KAZ) 78 80, Francesca Cuturi 78 80
160 – Anne Sophie Le Nalio (FRA) 80 80, Virginie Roques (FRA) 80 80
161 – Megan Streicher AMA 80 81
162 – Ethel Ruthenberg AMA 77 85, Bianca Wernich AMA 79 83
163 – Chiara Contomathios 79 84
164 – Siviwe Duma 81 83
165 – Muriel McIntyre (CAN) 83 82
169 – Lisa Anderson (SWE) 83 86, Tara Griebenow AMA 85 84
174 – Laura Welch (CAN) 90 84
RTD – Dominique Jacobs 79 RTD
Photo: Carl Fourie/Sunshine Ladies Tour
