Bryce Easton heads into Sunday’s final round of the Cell C Cape Town Open in association with Honor in a five-way tie for the lead and determined to use the opportunity to start playing his way back onto the DP World Tour, MICHAEL VLISMAS reports.
On a tricky day at the Royal Cape Golf Club where a swirling wind certainly caught the attention of the leading campaigners, Easton produced a composed 67 to share the lead on 11 under par.
Italy’s Filippo Celli, who has led from the first round, joined him with a level-par 72. And American Matt Oshrine (66), England’s Jamie Rutherford (67) and Spain’s Borja Virto (71) all took their place on 11 under par as well.
They are two strokes clear of England’s George Bloor, South Africa’s Justin Walters and Lyle Rowe, Zimbabwe’s Benjamin Follett-Smith and Italy’s Stefano Mazzoli.
Daniel van Tonder’s dreams of a hat-trick of victories on this Sunshine Tour and HotelPlanner Tour stretch are also still a likelihood as he starts the final round three shots off the lead.
There is plenty at stake for so many of the leaders, and none more so than Easton who is hunting his first victory on the Sunshine Tour since 2018.
“I’m looking to get back into the winner’s circle, for sure, and to get my card back on the DP World Tour again,” he said. “I’ve had a couple of quiet years with a baby boy being born, but I feel like a lot of that has settled down now and I’m able to shift back into golf mode full time and chase trying to get back to where I was a couple of years ago.”
His love of this golf course show through in 2022 when he finished third in this tournament, and Easton believes his understanding of this venerable layout was key to him working his way into contention.
“As we got out there in the third round, and the wind was swirling a bit all over the place, I knew it was going to be tricky. I said to my caddie that if we’re finding it tough to get this wind right then everybody else will be doing the same. It’s just a matter of hanging in there, hitting it in the right places and trying not to give shots away.
“But this golf course rewards good shots, especially if the wind is blowing. That suits me. I’m also quite good at reading these greens. For some reason here I seem to pick a couple of the subtle breaks. I seem to be very comfortable with my reads here. So we’ll see what direction the wind blows on the final day. But that’s what’s great about this golf course – it changes every day with the wind.”
Photo: Carl Fourie/Sunshine Tour
