Jbe’ Kruger made most of moving day on Thursday when he shot a three-under-par 69 to take his total to nine-under for the week, and claim a one-shot lead going into the final round of the Sun Carnival City Challenge at Serengeti Golf and Wildlife Estate.
While admitting to having minor issues with his putting, Kruger made a respectable five birdies in the second round, but further gains were prevented by the shots he dropped on the par-three fifth and on 13. And while not the sharpest round by his standards, Kruger still managed to topple overnight leader Hennie du Plessis from the summit on Thursday, a testimony to how much he enjoys this track.
‘I felt it was a little bit tougher,’ said Kruger about the second round. ‘I’m not fond of playing in the cold, so I made a few mistakes earlier on.’ Tough as it was, it did little to deter him from claiming top spot at the right time, but inspired him even further. ‘I think it’s the difficulty,’ he said of what he liked about this course, ‘I like it being tough. It helps me with my concentration a bit.’
Hot on his heels in second spot is Titch Moore, who also shot a 69, which took him to eight-under for the week. Despite making six birdies on the day, Moore lost momentum when he dropped shots on the par-five third and 16th holes, and again on 18 to settle for three-under. On third spot sits Louis de Jager, Merrick Bremner, Hennie du Plessis and defending champion Ruan de Smidt. Both De Jager and Bremner shot 67s to total seven-under, while De Smidt signed for four-under par 68.
‘I’m happy I’m three back and in contention again,’ De Smidt said. ‘It feels good to be in the mix. I have been playing well over the last couple of weeks, but not finishing off; driver the other week, putter the next, but this week all seems to be coming together. This course is unbelievable,’ said De Smidt.
Du Plessis finished level-par to remain at seven-under par. The biggest mover and lowest scorer on the day was Ockie Strydom, whose six-under-par 66 catapulted him to a share of seventh along with JJ Senekal, Neil Schietekat, Michael Palmer and Anthony Michael – all on six-under for the tournament.
Whether Kruger will make the most of playing ‘at home’ or De Smidt will defend his title come Friday, there’s yet more golf to be played on the last day here.
Second round leaderboard:
135 – Jbe’ Kruger 66 69
136 – Titch Moore 67 69
137 – Louis de Jager 70 67, Merrick Bremner 70 67, Hennie du Plessis 65 72, Ruan de Smidt 69 68, Anthony Michael 67 70
138 – Ockie Strydom 72 66, JJ Senekal 68 70, Neil Schietekat 68 70, Michael Palmer 69 69, Callum Mowat 72 66
139 – James Kamte 67 72, JC Ritchie 69 70, Jean Hugo 68 71, Keith Horne 72 67, Tyrone Ferreira 73 66, Jake Roos 73 66
140 – Jason Froneman 70 70, Mark Williams 73 67, Jonathan Agren 68 72, Hennie Otto 69 71, Theunis Spangenberg 68 72
141 – Wynand Dingle 72 69, Mark Murless 70 71, Zack Byrd 72 69
142 – Musiwalo Nethunzwi 74 68, Jared Harvey 71 71, N.J. Arnoldi 73 69, Chris Swanepoel 70 72
143 – Scott Campbell 72 71, Doug McGuigan 72 71, Jacques Kruyswijk 68 75, Ulrich van den Berg 72 71
144 – Dayne Moore 76 68, Antonio Rosado 74 70, Christiaan Basson 75 69, Andrew van der Knaap 72 72, Aubrey Beckley 73 71, Stuart Smith 74 70
Missed the cut:
145 – PH McIntyre 73 72, Justin Harding 73 72, Heinrich Bruiners 72 73, Peter Karmis 72 73, Keenan Davidse 73 72, Desne Van Den Bergh 72 73, Ryan Cairns 74 71, Oliver Bekker 75 70
146 – Gert Myburgh 75 71, Jacquin Hess 70 76, Teaghan Gauche 73 73, Luke Jerling 73 73, Jean-Paul Strydom 76 70, Riekus Nortje 75 71
147 – Steven Ferreira 74 73, Wallie Coetsee 76 71, Ryan Tipping 73 74, Omar Sandys 72 75, Pieter Kruger 74 73, Lyle Rowe 73 74, Vaughn Groenewald 68 79, Lindani Ndwandwe 70 77
148 – Matthew Spacey 75 73, Charl Coetzee 75 73, Michael Hollick 77 71, Colin Nel 75 73, Jason Smith 75 73, Toto Thimba 77 71, Makhetha Mazibuko 76 72, Jaco Ahlers 76 72, MJ Viljoen 76 72
149 – Danie Van Niekerk 77 72, Matthew Carvell 78 71, Andre Nel 76 73, Cody Martin 75 74, Andrew Curlewis 76 73, Madalitso Muthiya 76 73, Daniel van Tonder 73 76, Breyten Meyer 75 74, Sean Bradley 79 70
150 – Bradford Vaughan 77 73, Allan Versfeld 77 73, Bryandrew Roelofsz 80 70, Jake Redman 80 70, Stefan Engell Andersen 74 76, Jeff Inglis 74 76, Kyle Pilgrim 77 73, Alex Haindl 78 72, Rourke van der Spuy 73 77
151 – Sipho Bujela 78 73, Rhys West 75 76, Dwayne Basson 75 76, Jason Diab 73 78, Matias Calderon 73 78, Coert Groenewald 75 76, Damon Stephenson 75 76, Andre Cruse 76 75
152 – Chris Cannon 79 73, Allister de Kock 74 78, Combrinck Smit 75 77
153 – Stephen Ferreira 75 78, Desvonde Botes 81 72, Antonio Costa 78 75, Gerrit Foster 77 76
154 – Jaco Mouton 72 82, Gerard du Plooy 76 78
155 – Jason Viljoen 77 78, Morne Buys 80 75, Irvin Mazibuko 84 71
156 – Marc Cayeux 79 77, Dongkwan Kim 79 77, Kenneth Dube 80 76, Tyrone Ryan 80 76
161 – Jaco Prinsloo 79 82, Quintin Wilsnach 83 78
166 – Eugen Marugi 83 83, CJ du Plessis 88 78
WDN – Armandt Scholtz 85 WDN, Daniel Hammond 82 WDN, Trevor Fisher Jnr 74 WDN
