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. 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,” he said.
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.”
Photo Credit: Sunshine Tour/Carl Fourie.
Scores:
131 - Pieter Moolman 66 65
137 - Albert Venter 69 68
138 - Kyle Barker 71 67
139 - Nikhil Rama 70 69, Martin Rohwer 70 69, CJ du Plessis 68 71
140 - Jean Hugo 72 68, Christiaan Burke 73 67, Robin Williams 69 71, Pierre Pellegrin 69 71, Luca Filippi 71 69, Gerhard Pepler 71 69, Jake Redman 72 68
141 - Louis Albertse 69 72, Ruan Korb 75 66, Stefan Wears-Taylor 72 69, Rupert Kaminski 70 71, Jacquin Hess 72 69
142 - Clancy Waugh 70 72, Ryan Van Velzen 75 67, Merrick Bremner 71 71, Yurav Premlall 75 67, Erhard Lambrechts 73 69, Lyle Rowe 76 66, Quintin Wilsnach 76 66, Wynand Dingle 75 67
143 - Neil Whitehorn 72 71, Franklin Manchest 73 70, Ricky Hendler 71 72, Luke Trocado 75 68, Hennie Otto 71 72, Kyle De Beer 72 71
144 - Toto Thimba Jnr 71 73, Gerhard Trytsman 75 69, Ruan Conradie 75 69, Hennie O'Kennedy 73 71, Estiaan Conradie 74 70, Jordan Duminy 71 73, Hunter Epson 75 69, Dayne Moore 75 69, Kyle McClatchie 70 74, Otto Van Buynder 75 69, Christiaan Basson 72 72, Trevor Fisher Jnr 72 72
145 - Michael Kok 75 70, Madalitso Muthiya 71 74, Rigardt Albertse 74 71, Rhys West 74 71, James Mack 79 66, Ronald Rugumayo 71 74, Peter Karmis 75 70, Matthew Spacey 76 69, Fredrik From 75 70
Missed the cut:-
146 - LB Boshoff 78 68, Karabo Mokoena 75 71, Jason Roets 74 72, Tyron Davidowitz 72 74, Gregory Mckay 71 75, Sean Cronje 75 71, Danie Van Niekerk 75 71, Keegan Mclachlan 76 70, Luke Jerling 78 68, Combrinck Smit 75 71, Malcolm Mitchell 75 71, Conner Mackenzie 75 71
147 - Ruan de Smidt 72 75, Jacques P de Villiers 75 72, Doug McGuigan 77 70, Callum Mowat 75 72
148 - Mutahi Kibugu 78 70, Vaughn van Deventer 75 73, Jared Harvey 74 74, Tara Griebenow 72 76, Keelan van Wyk 76 72, Jonathan Broomhead 75 73, Casandra Alexander 77 71, Jake Roos 71 77
149 - Ethan Smith 76 73, James Hart du Preez 75 74, Heinrich Bruiners 76 73, Tristin Galant 74 75, Nyasha Muyambo 76 73, Willie Olivier 77 72, Sentanio Minnie 77 72, Travis Ladner 75 74, Jack Hawksby 76 73, Joe Long 77 72, Stuart Krog 77 72, Pearce Lewin 77 72, Jacques Blaauw 76 73, Nicholaus Frade 76 73, DK Kim 76 73
150 - Aneurin Gounden 72 78, Dwayne Basson 73 77, Drikus Joubert 75 75, Adam Breen 78 72, Jaco Van Zyl 76 74
151 - Sean Bradley 80 71, Richard Joubert 78 73
152 - Jonathan Waschefort 76 76, Keagan Thomas 76 76
153 - Shaahid Mahmed 76 77, Lee-Anne Pace 75 78, Ivanna Samu 82 71, Mark Maart 78 75
154 - Fezekile Kana 79 75, Dandre Spies 79 75, James Pennington 77 77
155 - Gavin Vorster 81 74, Stiaan Albertyn 79 76, Shawnelle de Lange 76 79
157 - Marcel Steyn Scholtz 81 76, Reinhardt Blaauw 80 77, Ryan Tipping 78 79
158 - Brittney-Fay Berger 78 80, Ryan Estment 75 83
159 - David Wicks 78 81, Richie O'Donovan 83 76
160 - Keelan Africa 81 79, Siyanda Mwandla 82 78
163 - Cara Gorlei 80 83
164 - Leon Visser 81 83
167 - Mandla Dlamini Jnr 85 82
170 - Stephan Sieberhagen 84 86
RTD - Gerrit Foster RTD RTD