Sweden’s Marcus Kinhult will take a three-stroke lead into the weekend of the Alfred Dunhill Championship, but with a strong group of challengers equally well placed to keep the pressure on him at Leopard Creek.
On another day of intense heat in the lowveld, Kinhult kept a cool head and signed for a 68 and the lead on 11 under par.
“It started out okay with the heat but after five or six holes I was hiding under the umbrella for most of the round. But it was a good day. I feel like I played well but didn’t take advantage of the par fives. But I’m not upset. This was a good score and I’m looking forward to two more rounds,” said Kinhult, who has given himself another shot at a second DP World Tour title after losing a playoff for the KLM Open this year.
How it stands at the top of the leaderboard 📊#DunhillChamps pic.twitter.com/82qjBAilOf
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) December 13, 2024
Behind him, South Africa’s Dean Burmester worked his way into contention on eight under par with a 67, joining Andrea Pavan (69) and Dale Whitnell (67) as Kinhult’s nearest challengers.
Burmester is a tough prospect on home soil when he has a chance, having won three of his four DP World Tour titles in South Africa.
“It was extremely hot out there but I played a solid round of golf. I’m three behind. I’m just going to keep to my strategy, and we’ll see where that ends up. If I can roll in a few putts, who knows what will happen,” he said.
Fellow South African Charl Schwartzel also moved ominously into contention amongst a group of players on seven under par with a round of 66, including two eagles.
Schwartzel is chasing a record fifth title in a championship where he also owns the biggest margin of victory and lowest tournament total, and has started to find his comfort levels on this course this week.
“We’ve got 36 holes to go and my game feels good. I know this golf course. You’ve got to start giving yourself the opportunities. But it can also bite you. If you miss the fairways all the time it’s really difficult to control the ball out of the rough. So there is a big emphasis on putting the ball on the fairway. But we’re halfway through and I’m up there. The golf course will only get firmer, so with 36 holes to go I need to keep creating opportunities and hopefully we’re there by Sunday,” he said.
🚨 First leopard spotting of the week 🚨
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) December 13, 2024
They don't call it Leopard Creek for no reason 🐆#DunhillChamps pic.twitter.com/0UpN2ZRVEZ
The championship will be live on SuperSport from 11:30am to 4:30pm South Africa time on Saturday and Sunday.
SCORES
133 - Marcus Kinhult 65 68
136 - Andrea Pavan 67 69, Dale Whitnell 69 67, Dean Burmester 69 67
137 - Wenyi Ding 68 69, Charl Schwartzel 71 66, Matthew Southgate 70 67, Martin Couvra 71 66, Casey Jarvis 65 72, Keenan Davidse 69 68, Andy Sullivan 64 73, Frederic Lacroix 70 67, Alex Fitzpatrick 65 72, Shaun Norris 67 70
138 - Joost Luiten 71 67, Romain Langasque 68 70, Adrian Otaegui 71 67, Darius van Driel 67 71, Simon Forsstrom 73 65, John Parry 67 71, Joel Moscatel 72 66
139 - Ryan Van Velzen 70 69, Brandon Stone 67 72, Nacho Elvira 68 71, Jens Dantorp 70 69, Yurav Premlall 73 66, Erik van Rooyen 72 67, Nathan Kimsey 67 72, Nikhil Rama 68 71
140 - Dylan Frittelli 72 68, Christiaan Bezuidenhout 75 65, Oliver Lindell 71 69, Benjamin Follett-Smith 71 69, Herman Loubser 74 66
141 - Laurie Canter 71 70, Ockie Strydom 71 70, Ugo Coussaud 69 72, Manuel Elvira 72 69, Hamish Brown 75 66, Louis Albertse 73 68, Ryggs Johnston 68 73, Angel Ayora 71 70, Matti Schmid 68 73
142 - Scott Jamieson 71 71, Benjamin Hebert 73 69, Pieter Moolman 70 72, Aldrich Potgieter 72 70, Tom McKibbin 69 73, Kristoffer Reitan 68 74, Jack Senior 71 71, Alexander Levy 74 68, Kyle McClatchie 72 70
143 - Gavin Green 71 72, Pierre Pineau 74 69, Jorge Campillo 71 72, Rupert Kaminski 71 72, Jacques Blaauw 73 70, Marcel Schneider 71 72, Kieron van Wyk 70 73, Matthew Baldwin 70 73, Julien Guerrier 68 75, Matthew Spacey 73 70, Bjorn Akesson 74 69, Richard Mansell 72 71, Sean Crocker 72 71, Lucas Bjerregaard 72 71
Missed the cut:
144 - Dan Bradbury 70 74, JC Ritchie 71 73, Aaron Cockerill 71 73, Heinrich Bruiners 70 74, Francesco Laporta 73 71, Jaco Ahlers 75 69, Ulrich van den Berg 70 74, Louis Oosthuizen 71 73, Darren Fichardt 72 72
145 - Malcolm Mitchell 73 72, Sam Bairstow 74 71, Brandon Gildenhuys 72 73, Robson Chinhoi 71 74, Daniel Bennett 74 71, Jeong Weon Ko 74 71, Thomas Aiken 74 71, Oliver Bekker 71 74, Jaco Van Zyl 72 73, Ruan Conradie 72 73
146 - MJ Viljoen 73 73, Connor Syme 72 74, Jean Hugo 72 74, Conor Purcell 75 71, Keelan van Wyk 74 72, Jaco Prinsloo 74 72, Jonathan Broomhead 71 75, Wilco Nienaber 70 76, Bernd Wiesberger 76 70, Jovan Rebula 73 73, Richard Sterne 71 75
147 - Michael Hollick 74 73, Thriston Lawrence 75 72, Jordan Gumberg 76 71, Altin van der Merwe 71 76, Jordan Burnand 75 72, Joe Dean 71 76, Nicolai Von Dellingshausen 72 75, CJ du Plessis 73 74, Christiaan Maas 73 74, Justin Walters 72 75
148 - David Ravetto 74 74, Hennie Otto 74 74, Dylan Mostert 74 74, George Coetzee 72 76, Louis de Jager 73 75, Makhetha Mazibuko 72 76, Martin Rohwer 75 73, Rhys Enoch 74 74, Gregor Graham 73 75, Lyle Rowe 73 75, Albert Venter 74 74, Ruan Korb 76 72
149 - Brandon Robinson Thompson 77 72, Kyle Barker 81 68, Keith Horne 75 74, Deon Germishuys 72 77, Joel Girrbach 76 73, Neil Schietekat 73 76, JJ Senekal 73 76, Nicolas Colsaerts 79 70, Luke Jerling 74 75
150 - Dylan Naidoo 76 74, Kyle De Beer 74 76, Joakim Lagergren 74 76, Eddie Pepperell 81 69, Jacquin Hess 77 73
151 - Pablo Larrazabal 73 78, Wynand Dingle 75 76, Mikael Lindberg 74 77
152 - Trevor Fisher Jnr 81 71, Jayden Schaper 74 78, Sentanio Minnie 76 76, Gerard du Plooy 75 77
153 - Gerhard Pepler 80 73, Jacques P de Villiers 75 78, Robin Williams 76 77, Peter Karmis 76 77, Jordan Duminy 81 72
154 - Daniel van Tonder 71 83
155 - Musiwalo Nethunzwi 80 75, Stefan Wears-Taylor 69 86
156 - Ross Fisher 81 75, Combrinck Smit 75 81
157 - Astin Arthur 78 79, Gregory Mckay 82 75
161 - Steven Le Roux 75 86
163 - Christopher Long 82 81
RTD - Calum Hill RTD RTD, Alvaro Quiros 74 RTD, Franklin Manchest 77 RT