Pieter Moolman will take a six-stroke lead into Sunday’s final round of the Vodacom Origins of Golf at the Devonvale Golf and Wine Estate, even while admitting that his game is not where he would like it to be.
Moolman followed up his opening 66 with a 65 on Saturday to surge to 11 under par overall. His nearest challenger is Albert Venter on five under following his second round of 68.
Despite leading for two rounds of this Sunshine Tour event, Moolman still feels his swing is not where he’d like it to be.
“I’m still not really hitting it like I want to,” he said. “Today was just a case of me making putts. If you’re making putts from everywhere it feels a bit like you’re getting away with something. I’ve been struggling swing wise, so you start relying more on the short game.”
Since winning his first Sunshine Tour title in last year’s Fortress Invitational, Moolman has shown signs of growing into a consistent competitor who is ready to take the next step up in his career.
He finished tied ninth and third in the Dimension Data Pro-Am and SDC Open respectively earlier this year, both of which are co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour and European Challenge Tour. Internationally he’s had top finishes of 15th and 10th in the Czech Republic and Italy on the European Challenge Tour this year. And most recently he finished fifth in the opening Vodacom Origins of Golf tournament at Zebula last month.
But even with these performances and a commanding lead, Moolman is taking nothing for granted.
“It’s easy to get ahead of yourself, but I know what golf is like. You can shoot 63 today and 75 tomorrow. We all know golf is unpredictable and anything can change at any moment. Everyone wants their A game all the time, but golf isn’t that simple. You can go from your A game to D game really quickly. So when you’re struggling, you want to manage your game well and I’ve done that this week.
“I’ll just keep staying in the moment and take it shot for shot.”
By Michael Vlismas
