American David Lipsky holds a one-stroke lead going into the weekend of his first appearance in the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek as he seeks to break the South African hold on this championship.
With rounds of 70 and 66, Lipsky heads the field on eight-under par. He is one stroke clear of the Scottish duo of Scott Jamieson and Marc Warren, while at six-under lie another two Scots in David Drysdale and Doug McGuigan.
Defending champion Brandon Stone of South Africa, and countryman Dylan Frittelli head into the weekend in a group on five-under par. Ernie Els is challenging for the second week running as he goes into the final 36 holes only four shots off the lead and chasing his second victory in this championship.
But there is clearly change afoot at Leopard Creek, and not only with the enhancements at this sublime golf course.
The leaderboard points to a strong foreign challenge in a championship traditionally dominated by South Africans.
Lipsky is looking to become the first non-South African winner of this championship since Spain’s Pablo Martin in 2010.
In fact, in every year since 2004, if no South African won this championship, a countryman finished second.
But Lipsky clearly feels right at home, not just at the top of the leaderboard, but also at Leopard Creek.
‘I’ve always wanted to come here. I’ve heard great things from almost every player, pretty much. And it’s turned out to be a great experience so far. My putting and chipping have been amazing. I’m looking forward to the weekend,’ he said.
Behind him, Jamieson is equally at home in South Africa, where he has won before.
‘I’ve had some good finishes in this country. Maybe half of my career money has come out of South Africa. I seem to enjoy it out here. It’s feeling good to be in the mix for the weekend. I had two months off and it’s nice to be back out.’
McGuigan will also feel he has something to prove on the weekend. He was born in South Africa, but plays under the Scottish flag of his footballer father, and he lost in a playoff for this championship in 2003.
Second round leaderboard:
136 – David Lipsky 70 66
137 – Scott Jamieson 71 66, Marc Warren 70 67
138 – Doug McGuigan 72 66, David Drysdale 69 69
139 – Darren Fichardt 69 70, Dylan Frittelli 69 70, Oliver Wilson 70 69, Oliver Bekker 66 73, Dimitrios Papadatos 67 72, Brandon Stone 69 70
140 – Niklas Lemke 72 68, Ben Evans 70 70, Zander Lombard 71 69, Ernie Els 73 67, Sean Crocker 72 68, Louis Oosthuizen 71 69, Erik van Rooyen 70 70, Kim Koivu 75 65
141 – Espen Kofstad 69 72, Victor Perez 73 68, Matias Calderon 72 69, Jeff Winther 72 69, Robert Karlsson 69 72, Robert Macintyre 70 71
142 – Alejandro Canizares 75 67, Romain Langasque 74 68, Kalle Samooja 74 68, Bernd Wiesberger 70 72, Adilson Da Silva 71 71, Pablo Larrazabal 69 73
143 – Jack Singh Brar 73 70, George Coetzee 73 70, Richard Sterne 74 69, Matthew Jordan 71 72, Joachim B. Hansen 73 70, Masahiro Kawamura 72 71, Keenan Davidse 72 71, Jaco Prinsloo 73 70, Adri Arnaus 70 73, Guido Migliozzi 71 72, Raphael Jacquelin 68 75
144 – Jaco van Zyl 73 71, Neil Schietekat 72 72, Ockie Strydom 70 74, Mark Williams 75 69, Christiaan Bezuidenhout 75 69, Daniel Greene 74 70
145 – Max Orrin 71 74, Chase Koepka 73 72, Thomas Aiken 73 72, Deyen Lawson 72 73, Chris Paisley 75 70, Steven Brown 72 73, David Law 72 73, Justin Walters 74 71, Alex Haindl 76 69, Branden Grace 73 72, Matt Wallace 74 71, Bernd Ritthammer 73 72
146 – Tom Murray 71 75, Lyle Rowe 73 73, Hyowon Park 69 77, Peter Hanson 75 71, Gregory Bourdy 75 71, Jean Hugo 73 73, David Borda 72 74, JC Ritchie 78 68, Chris Swanepoel 72 74, Jean-Paul Strydom 74 72, Peter Karmis 76 70, Kristoffer Reitan 73 73, Scott Vincent 71 75
Missed the cut:-
147 – Tyrone Ferreira 75 72, Charl Schwartzel 73 74, Matthieu Pavon 77 70, Garth Mulroy 76 71, Colin Nel 72 75, Hennie Otto 74 73, Tyrone Ryan 75 72, Trevor Fisher Jnr 75 72, Liam Johnston 69 78, Omar Sandys 79 68
148 – Steve Surry 78 70, Gavin Moynihan 78 70, Marcel Siem 73 75, Morten Orum Madsen 76 72, Lorenzo Gagli 75 73, Rourke van der Spuy 72 76, Gregory Havret 78 70, Michael Palmer 78 70, Allister de Kock 74 74, Stuart Manley 72 76
149 – Chris Cannon 76 73, Merrick Bremner 74 75, Daniel Hammond 76 73, Nick Cullen 76 73, Kurt Kitayama 77 72, Bryce Easton 76 73, Adrien Saddier 78 71, Riekus Nortje 77 72, Thriston Lawrence 78 71
150 – Tapio Pulkkanen 75 75, JJ Senekal 74 76, Andre de Decker 77 73, Jake Roos 76 74, Breyten Meyer 76 74, Jaco Ahlers 78 72, Haydn Porteous 79 71, Edoardo Molinari 76 74, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano 71 79, Kristian Krogh Johannessen 77 73
151 – Wynand Dingle 77 74, Sebastian Soderberg 76 75, Ivan Cantero Gutierrez 77 74, Neil O’Briain 76 75, Ruan de Smidt 76 75, Ulrich van den Berg 77 74, Hennie du Plessis 79 72
152 – Grant Forrest 74 78, Trevor Immelman 74 78, Dean Burmester 75 77, Louis de Jager 74 78, Vaughn Groenewald 76 76, Jacques Blaauw 78 74
153 – Ryan Cairns 75 78, Marc Cayeux 77 76, Shaun Norris 74 79, Lindani Ndwandwe 78 75, Mikko Ilonen 77 76, Jacquin Hess 75 78, Dawie Van der Walt 77 76
154 – Per Langfors 78 76, Pieter Moolman 74 80, Theunis Bezuidenhout 78 76, Scott Gregory 81 73, Rhys Enoch 75 79
155 – Jared Harvey 75 80, Heinrich Bruiners 77 78, Daniel Gavins 74 81, Makhetha Mazibuko 82 73, Max Schmitt 77 78, Matteo Manassero 81 74, Christofer Blomstrand 79 76, Filippo Bergamaschi 76 79, Daniel van Tonder 77 78, Scott Campbell 82 73
157 – Jacques Kruyswijk 84 73, Pedro Figueiredo 78 79
158 – Anthony Michael 79 79, MJ Viljoen 78 80, Sipho Bujela 76 82
161 – Thabang Simon 83 78
162 – Irvin Mazibuko 83 79, Cameron Moralee 81 81
DSQ – Derick Petersen
Photo: Carl Fourie/Sunshine Tour/Gallo Images
