Jaco van Zyl backed up his opening round 70 of the Sun City Challenge with an eventful 68 to total six-under for the tournament, taking a single-stroke lead into the final round at the Gary Player Country Club.
Starting from the 10th tee in round two, the 14-time Sunshine Tour winner didn’t make a single birdie on that stretch, instead making a bogey on the 13th, his fourth hole.
‘I got off to a slow start this morning,’ he admitted. ‘I didn’t really get anything going. But I managed to get it back to even-par, and then I got on a nice little birdie run and it swung the momentum a little bit.’
After turning in 37, Van Zyl knew he had to dig deep and produce something special if he had any chance of contending for a win in Sun City, and he did so in some style. He was happy to take a par on his 10th hole, the first of the golf course, before going birdie-eagle-birdie to get himself in the mix. He was not finished, however, because after the bogey he’d made on his 15th hole, he got further gains, birdieing the 16th and the last holes to sign for a 68.
‘The game has been there for a while,’ he said of the state of his game at present. ‘I’m just trying to stay patient, work hard on it. There are telltale signs of it coming back. I’ve only been at it for seven months, and considering that 14 months not playing this game is a really long time. But it’s coming together nicely.’
Hot on his heels and a shot adrift is the defending champion, Neil Schietekat. His blemish-free 69 took his total to five-under for the week and within a real chance of defending the title that ended his half-a-decade winless run.
He is followed by JC Ritchie, who has been in scintillating form, along with exciting rookie Garrick Higgo at four-under par and two shots off Van Zyl’s lead. After his impressive 66 in round one, Kyle Barker, a rookie himself, struggled properly in round two, shooting a 75 and dropping his total to three-under for the tournament and now lies fifth on the leaderboard.
Second round leaderboard:
138 – Jaco van Zyl 70 68
139 – Neil Schietekat 70 69
140 – JC Ritchie 68 72, Garrick Higgo 69 71
141 – Kyle Barker 66 75
142 – David McIntyre 70 72, Jacques Blaauw 70 72, Rhys West 70 72, Jake Redman 72 70, Ryan Cairns 71 71
143 – James Allan 70 73, Thriston Lawrence 74 69, Keenan Davidse 71 72, Ockie Strydom 72 71, Jaco Ahlers 68 75, Keith Horne 73 70, Ryan Tipping 73 70
144 – Jacquin Hess 74 70, Wynand Dingle 73 71, Wallie Coetsee 73 71, Christiaan Basson 72 72, Titch Moore 68 76
145 – Jason Froneman 70 75, Callum Mowat 73 72, Michael Palmer 73 72, Jacques P de Villiers 68 77
146 – Ruan de Smidt 72 74, Hennie Otto 71 75, Rourke van der Spuy 74 72, Luke Jerling 71 75, Toto Thimba 70 76, Louis de Jager 73 73, Bennie van der Merwe 75 71, Jake Roos 74 72, Jbe’ Kruger 73 73
147 – Combrinck Smit 75 72, DK Kim 74 73, Herman Loubser 76 71, Riekus Nortje 77 70, Trevor Fisher Jnr 75 72, Christiaan Bezuidenhout 75 72
Missed the cut:
148 – Breyten Meyer 78 70, Musiwalo Nethunzwi 75 73, MJ Viljoen 73 75, Makhetha Mazibuko 79 69, Madalitso Muthiya 75 73, Pieter Moolman 74 74, Ruan Conradie 74 74, Jared Harvey 75 73
149 – Philip Geerts 72 77, Heinrich Bruiners 75 74, Vaughn Groenewald 73 76, Peetie van der Merwe 76 73, Tristen Strydom 72 77
150 – Luke Mayo 75 75, Fredrik From 73 77, Gerrit Foster 71 79, Deon Germishuys 77 73, Chris Swanepoel 74 76, Altaaf Bux 79 71, Cameron Esau 77 73
151 – Hayden Griffiths 77 74, Clinton Grobler 77 74, Jean Hugo 78 73, Lyle Rowe 73 78, Keelan van Wyk 76 75, JJ Senekal 73 78, Doug McGuigan 76 75
152 – Chris Cannon 78 74, CJ du Plessis 79 73, Estiaan Conradie 77 75, Derick Petersen 83 69, Anton Haig 77 75, Luke Brown 74 78
153 – Dylan Mostert 75 78, Roberto Lupini 78 75, Jacques Kruyswijk 78 75, Andrew van der Knaap 74 79
154 – Jason Diab 79 75, Louis Albertse 76 78
155 – Jaco Prinsloo 79 76, Stefan Wears-Taylor 79 76, Keelan Africa 79 76
156 – Juran Dreyer 77 79, Stephen Ferreira 78 78, Andrew McLardy 79 77, Kyle McClatchie 83 73, Martin Rohwer 74 82
157 – Andre Nel 79 78, Franklin Manchest 79 78, Dylan Naidoo 77 80, Teaghan Gauche 79 78
158 – Rupert Kaminski 80 78, Adriel Poonan 80 78
159 – Jade Buitendag 77 82
160 – Darin de Smidt 73 87, Michael Hollick 80 80
161 – Sipho Bujela 81 80
162 – Aubrey Beckley 88 74, Teboho Sefatsa 81 81, Ruan Huysamen 76 86
163 – Matt Bright 84 79
164 – Sean Bradley 81 83
166 – Dylan Kok 83 83
167 – Ruan Korb 80 87
RTD – Duane Keun 79 RTD, Cameron Moralee 80 RTD
DSQ – Tyrone Ryan 80 DSQ
