France’s Julien Guerrier shot 65 at the Montagu course at Fancourt on Friday to take a one-shot lead into the weekend of the Dimension Data Pro-Am, a tournament that he found out about two weeks ago.
‘A French guy organised some pro-ams in South Africa, and I came out through my sponsor,’ he said. ‘It gave me chance to practice while it was winter in France and at the same time play in the pro-ams. When I found I could play in the Dimension Data, I was really happy. Everyone was really enthusiastic about the tournament, so I was pleased to be able to play.’
The R5-million tourmament is played over The Links, Outeniqua, and Motagu courses, with a 54-hole cut followed by a final round on Montagu.
Guerrier began his campaign at The Links and shot six-under-par 67, which he then backed up with a Friday round of 65 on Montagu. That set him at 13-under-par for the tournament, one shot clear of England’s Toby Tree.
‘I’m really happy,’ said the midway leader. ‘Yesterday, I played great. It wasn’t so good today. Usually it’s very difficult to keep bogeys off the card. We all know golf – it’s a long, hard road. I missed some shots today but I was lucky, because I could always recover. I always missed the greens on the right side and made up and down when I missed.’
Darren Fichardt was the leading South African and joined a tie for third place with Ben Eccles and Alexander Knappe on 11-under-par.
