Ruan de Smidt produced a hard-fought one-under-par 71 in round two of the Betway Big Easy Tour 5 at Akasia Golf Club, taking his total to seven-under and two shots clear of England’s Daniel Smith ahead of the final round.
Knowing that it was always going to be a challenge backing up his bogey-free opening round of 66, De Smidt was ready for the challenge.
Things proved challenging indeed on day two as strong winds kept gusting for the entire second round in Pretoria.
Staring his second round from the 10th tee and after making four straight pars, De Smidt was eventually rewarded with an eagle on the par-five 14th and a birdie on the next hole which is also playing as a par-five.
He turned in 34 and bogey-free but things would change around the turn.
His back nine 37 consisted of bogeys on the fourth, seventh and ninth hole, while a solitary birdie made it onto his card on the par-five eighth hole.
“On the front nine, I hit the ball terribly and managed to go three-under,” noted De Smidt. “And then back nine, I started hitting it much better but then the putter kind of left me and I am bit disappointed with the finish but it was a tough day. All in all, it was not too bad.
“I think I need to just go and figure out the putter really quick. This morning, I hit it really badly but on the back nine, I found my swing again. So, I just need to have the swing tomorrow and a little bit of a putting stroke.”
A tough outing yields a second-round 71 for overnight leader, @ruandesmidt in the fifth Betway Big Easy Tour event here at Akasia.
— Big Easy Tour (@bigeasytourgolf) July 2, 2026
He is -7 for the week and in contention for his second win of the campaign 🔥#betwaybigeasytour #greatnessbeginshere pic.twitter.com/uR7GvYBism
Smith’s second-round 69 catapulted him to second on the leaderboard on a total of five-under.
His round was characterised by four birdies, an eagle and three dropped shots as the Englishman played himself into contention once more.
“It was very windy,” Smith remarked. “You had to be weary of your distances into the green because they all slope back to front, so if you go past the green, you’ve got no putt coming back. I managed to keep it under the hole a few times and hit a couple of par-fives in two, so it was good.
“Hopefully, I can get over the line tomorrow but the key is to keep putting yourself in the mix because you never know what could happen.”
Toto Thimba Jnr also came in with a score of 69 to get to four-under for the week and within touching distance of De Smidt’s lead.
Also signing for 69 on moving day was Christian Kriek and he shares fourth with Jordan Duminy who shot 73 on Thursday.
Rhys Enoch is in a four-way share of sixth at two-under-par while Vaughn Van Deventer is solo 10th going to the final round.
The Betway Big Easy Tour is the Sunshine Tour’s feeder circuit and enjoys the support of the legendary Ernie Els, among other patrons.