It seemed that his comeback injury woes was complete for Jaco van Zyl on Friday as he played his way serenely to the second round lead of the Dimension Data Pro-Am with a seven-under-par 66 at The Links at Fancourt.
Together with his opening seven-under on Outeniqua the day before, he moved to 14-under, two clear of Justin Walters. The players play one round on each of The Links, Outeniqua and Montagu ahead of the cut after the third round and the final round on the challenging Montagu.
For the 14-time winner on the Sunshine Tour, it’s just a relief to be back in contention. ‘It’s amazing to be back in this position again,’ he said. ‘It’s been a long, hard road. So, for this first time in a long time, there’s not much by way of expectations. I’m just enjoying myself being here.’
It was a bogey-free journey around the par-73 layout of The Links for Van Zyl. ‘I got off to a nice start and then we turned into the wind on seven, eight and nine,’ he said. ‘It was one of those turning points in a round. If you let one or two slip there, you’re kind of back to square one. I managed to make three good pars there. On the back nine, it was just about trying to grab every opportunity.’
And with the shape his game is in this week, there were plenty of opportunities. ‘I’ve been putting really nicely,’ he said. ‘I’ve also been solid off the tee – I think I’ve missed three fairways in two days. I’ve made just one bogey. I’m not missing fairways and I’m not missing greens, and that means I’m having opportunities the whole time.
‘That’s the tough beast for the week. On Outeniqua, you need to try and get it around and score well, which I managed to do, and seven-under par around The Links is just a huge bonus. I’m definitely going to grab it and run.’
Walters carded a four-under 69 on The Links in a round which included a bogey on the 13th. That, together with his opening eight-under on Outeniqua, leaves him well placed to keep in touch with Van Zyl as they both move to Montagu for the third round.
A further shot back were Jbe’ Kruger and Philip Eriksson of Sweden. Kruger signed for a five-under 68 on The Links, while Erkisson made his five-under 67 on Outeniqua.
Grouped on 10-under, within striking distance, was a trio which included defending champion Jaco Ahlers, who made the most of good conditions on The Links with a six-under 67. The other two players two back from Van Zyl were first-round leader Riekus Nortje and Dean Burmester.
It’s a chasing pack that should have Van Zyl looking over his shoulder, but he’s just having too much fun being back in contention. ‘We’ve had two absolutely stunning days and on two golf courses that are in great nick,’ he said. ‘I know Montagu is also good and the forecast looks good for the next two days as well. So I’ll just stay patient and try and get things moving in the right direction.’
Combined second round scores (The Links is par-73; Outeniqua and Montagu are par-72):
131 – Jaco Van Zyl 65 66
133 – Justin Walters 64 69
133 – Philip Eriksson 66 67, Jbe’ Kruger 66 68
135 – Riekus Nortje 63 72, Jaco Ahlers 68 67, Dean Burmester 68 67
135 – Steve Surry 67 68
136 – Fredrik From 69 67, Toby Tree 66 70
137 – Estiaan Conradie 70 67, Christiaan Bezuidenhout 68 70, Martin Rohwer 70 67, Jacques Blaauw 73 65, Jacques P de Villiers 69 69, Anthony Michael 67 71
139 – Dawie Van der Walt 70 69, Ockie Strydom 69 70, Jaco Prinsloo 71 67, Neil O’Briain 67 72, Vaughn Groenewald 70 69, Jeff Winther 70 69, Laurie Canter 68 71, Jean Hugo 71 68, Chris Hanson 73 65
139 – Jack Harrison 69 70, Richard Bland 70 70, Lyle Rowe 73 67, Cormac Sharvin 69 70, Keith Horne 73 66, Ross McGowan 71 69
140 – Rhys Enoch 71 69, Jared Harvey 72 68, Stephen Ferreira 71 69, Michael Palmer 68 73, Bradley Neil 73 68, Jonathan Agren 73 67, MJ Viljoen 70 71, Mark Williams 69 72, Antoine Rozner 70 71, Ruan de Smidt 68 73
141 – Wallie Coetsee 73 68, Hennie Otto 70 72, Matthew Jordan 71 70, Daniel Greene 70 71, George Coetzee 71 71, MJ Daffue 72 70, Jean-Paul Strydom 69 73, Luke Jerling 72 70, JC Ritchie 72 69
143 – Callum Mowat 70 73, Jake Roos 73 70, Neil Schietekat 68 75, Kyle McClatchie 72 71, Michael Hollick 71 72, CJ du Plessis 75 68, Garth Mulroy 72 71, Rhys West 73 70, Christiaan Basson 70 73, Bryce Easton 70 73
143 – Ben Mannix 75 68, Herman Loubser 75 68, Derick Petersen 72 72, Thriston Lawrence 73 71, Lindani Ndwandwe 75 68, Heinrich Bruiners 71 73, Merrick Bremner 70 74, Daniel van Tonder 73 71, Zander Lombard 71 73, Darren Fichardt 70 74, Julien Brun 67 77, Kyle Pilgrim 72 72, Ulrich van den Berg 72 71, Tyrone Ferreira 70 74, Ugo Coussaud 71 73, Jerome Lando Casanova 74 69, Duane Keun 73 71, Ruan Conradie 75 68, Aubrey Beckley 73 70
144 – Ryan Cairns 70 74, Gian-Marco Petrozzi 73 72, Dylan Kok 72 73, Jason Viljoen 72 73, Sean Bradley 71 74, Anton Haig 74 70, Tyrone Ryan 73 71, Erhard Lambrechts 72 72, Madalitso Muthiya 74 71, Jake Redman 71 73, Scott Campbell 74 71
145 – Philip Geerts 72 73, Jacquin Hess 73 73, Harry Ellis 74 72, Hennie du Plessis 74 72, Robin Dawson 73 72, Benjamin Follett-Smith 71 75, Breyten Meyer 73 72, Andre Nel 77 69, Luke Joy 71 75
147 – Chris Cannon 71 76, Alan McLean 75 71, Marthin Scheepers 77 70, Teaghan Gauche 79 68, Keenan Davidse 75 72, Francesco Laporta 76 71, Peter Karmis 78 68, Victor Lange 74 73, Andrew Georgiou 78 69, Matias Calderon 73 74
148 – David McIntyre 73 75, Andrew van der Knaap 75 72, Michiel Bothma 76 71, Bennie van der Merwe 73 75, Louis Albertse 76 72, Pieter Moolman 73 75, Don Gammon 77 DSQ, Tyler Hogarty 79 68
148 – James Pennington 74 74, Wynand Dingle 73 76, Trevor Fisher Jnr 75 74, Toto Thimba 78 70
150 – Mitch Waite 80 70, Andrew Curlewis 75 75, Jade Buitendag 76 73, Irvin Mazibuko 74 76, Damon Stephenson 78 71, Francois Coetzee 73 77, James Kamte 77 72, Doug McGuigan 74 76, Andre De Decker 76 73
150 – JJ Senekal 81 69, Allan Versfeld 76 75, Ian Ansett 76 75, Martin Rominger 76 75, Theunis Bezuidenhout 78 72, Matthew Carvell 75 75, Coert Groenewald 73 78
152 – Franklin Manchest 78 74, Titch Moore 79 73, Luke Trocado 78 74, Phumlani Maluka 76 76, Gerrit Foster 80 72, Chris Swanepoel 81 71
153 – Ian Snyman 78 75, Michael Schutz 76 77, Andrew Odoh 79 73, Colin Nel 78 74, Rourke van der Spuy 74 78
154 – Teboho Sefatsa 79 75, Keagan Beyer 81 72, Bryce Myburgh 77 77
154 – Robert Wiederkehr 81 73, Allister de Kock 78 77, Ryan Tipping 83 72, Mohammad Rauf Mandhu 76 79, Basil Wright 79 76
155 – James Adams 78 77, Yubin Jung 78 78
157 – Thabang Simon 79 78
158 – Fezekile Kana 84 74
159 – Clancy Waugh 80 79
162 – Matthew Rushton 82 80
