Haydn Porteous struggled to a second round 75 at the Regnum Carya Golf and Spa Resort on a day where playing partner Nicolas Colsaerts was at his imperious best, writes WADE PRETORIUS.
Porteous, who so brilliantly played his way into the final group yesterday, tumbled down the leaderboard as he struggled with his game on Friday.
The young South African started the day on level terms with the big-hitting Belgian, but where his opponent was flawless with seven birdies and no bogeys, Porteous failed to replicate his excellent form of 24 hours earlier.
Porteous opened with five straight pars and rebounded from a bogey on the sixth with birdies at 7 and 8 to get to -1 for the round, but was already well behind Colsaerts. The Belgian had already stormed to a massive lead after five birdies just before the turn. Needing something special to chase down Colsarts, the South African went the other way with a double on 9 before he compounded that mistake with another double on 10 to fall off the first page of the leaderboard.
Porteous showed some fight with birdies at both of the back nine’s par 5s, but then another double followed at 16 before he closed with a three-putt bogey – his second lipping out – on the last to finish in a share of 27th place.
He is now the second-best South African in the field behind Dylan Frittelli, who was bogey-free on Friday. Frittelli rose 20 spots after his second round 67, which was aided by birdies at 5, 9, 12 and 13.
A triple bogey on the par-5 15th forced George Coetzee back to level par for the day and his second 71 of the week in Antayla.
Back at the top, Colsaerts, who is searching for his first win in five and half years, came home in three-under for a second successive 64 – the best round of the day – to lead England’s Eddie Pepperell (66) by a commanding four shots, with Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat one further back after a 67 on Friday.
Photo: Warren Little/Getty Images
