First-round leader Alex Haindl followed up his opening-round 67 with another rock-solid performance on day two to remain atop the leaderboard, with eighteen holes left to play at the Sunshine Tour’s SunBet Challenge.
Haindl leads by two shots from Jaco Ahlers, who followed up his opening round of 71 with a 67, the low round of the day at the event hosted by Sun City at the Gary Player Country Club on Thursday.
Starting on the 10th hole, Haindl made birdies on 12 and 14 to keep his nose in front of the chasing pack. After making birdie on the 1st hole, the start of his inward nine, Haindl’s lead was cut to one shot when he could only manage a bogey at the 5th.
However, a magnificent birdie on the notoriously difficult 8th hole was enough to double Haindl’s advantage heading into round three.
Also starting on the 10th and playing in the group behind Haindl, Jaco Ahlers got his second round off to an exceptional start, making eagle on his opening hole. After bogeying the 13th, Ahlers was quick to make amends, reeling off three consecutive birdies from the 14th hole to make the turn in five under par for the tournament.
A solitary birdie over the remaining nine holes moved the seasoned campaigner to six under par, two shots back of the tournament leader heading into the final round.
Sitting in third and just three shots off the pace, is Zambia’s Madalitso Muthiya following rounds of 70 and 69. Muthiya remains within striking distance and an excellent chance of claiming just his second win on the Sunshine Tour on Friday.
Tour veterans Ulrich van den Berg and Jaco van Zyl round out the top five, albeit on two under par, six shots back of Haindl.
FULL LEADERBOARD HERE
Round of the day 67(-5) & @JacoAhlers finds himself just 2 shots off the lead on -6 ?#SunBetChallenge#GreatnessBeginsHere#SunshineTour #SunCity #garyplayercountryclub@SunbetSA @SunCityResortSA @MillionThrills pic.twitter.com/xuPhiqFkt1
— Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour) June 3, 2021
Photo: @Sunshine_Tour/Twitter
