Fancourt holds some special memories for Ernie Els. In 2003, he stared down Tiger Woods in an epic Presidents Cup playoff at The Links. Neither of them blinked, and eventually, darkness had the final say, and the Cup was shared. He also launched his foundation at Fancourt. On Saturday, Els added another special memory.
When darkness brought an end to an incomplete second round of the NTT DATA Men’s Pro-Am brought to you by Standard Bank, the 56-year-old South African settled into a glass of red wine, having played his way to just five shots off the lead held by MJ Daffue. Daffue climbed to 13 under par overall with his sublime 64 on the Outeniqua course.
South Africa’s Deon Germishuys and American Hunter Logan finished their rounds on 11 under, while Zimbabwe’s Benjamin Follett-Smith is also 11 under through nine holes.
Rain on Saturday morning meant the start of the round was delayed to 11:30am. The second round will be completed on Sunday morning before the start of the final round.
But on an overcast day at Fancourt, Els certainly brought the silver lining with a round of golf that had the Fancourt residents streaming out of their homes and onto the fairways of the Montagu course he was playing.
'HAD A GOOD TIME'
At one stage, he was seven under through 11 holes. Even though he made back-to-back bogeys on the back nine, it was a round that gave him an outside chance for Sunday.
“I really had it going at one point there and I was looking at something special. I think I ran out of steam. But listen, I’ll be around for the final day, and if I get another run like that, I’d love to finish it off with something nice,” said Els.
“It was great out there. A lot of people were coming out of their homes to watch, and a lot of my friends, who I play with here. We had a good time out there. I won here in 1993, believe it or not. That’s how far back I go at Fancourt. There are many great memories for me here. So I’m looking forward to keep chipping away at my game and get it really sharp for the Investec South African Open.”
At the top of the leaderboard, Daffue is just as eager to finish off strong on Sunday, and also with an eye on the Investec South African Open in two weeks’ time.
“My game feels close. This is my lowest round in a while and coming off the surgeries I’ve had. I am not in the Investec SA Open at present. But if I go and take care of business on Sunday and it’s my time and I win, then that will get me in.”
SCORES
-13 - MJ Daffue 67 64
-11 - Deon Germishuys 66 67
-11 - Hunter Logan 66 67, Benjamin Follett-Smith 60 (+1) [9]
-10 - Casey Jarvis 66 68
-10 - Louis Albertse 66 68, Kieran Vincent 66 (-4) [6]
-9 - Eddie Pepperell 67 68
-9 - Max Kennedy 65 70, JJ Senekal 63 (Par) [3]
-8 - Jaco Ahlers 67 69
-8 - Ernie Els 69 67, Adri Arnaus 67 69, Gary Hurley 66 70, Bryce Easton 66 (-2) [3]
-7 - Hamish Brown 68 69
-7 - Albert Boneta 70 67, Gerhard Pepler 65 (Par) [9], Lukas Nemecz 68 (-3) [6]
-6 - David Horsey 70 68
-6 - MJ Viljoen 66 72, Wilco Nienaber 69 69, Ryan Lumsden 70 68, Luke Brown 69 69, Liam Nolan 69 69, Baard Skogen 68 70, James Meyer De Beco 71 (-5) [9], Justin Walters 69 (-3) [9], Sam Hutsby 71 (-5) [9], Trevor Fisher Jnr 66 (Par) [3], Callan Barrow 67 (-1) [3]
-5 - Yannik Paul 68 71
-5 - Mike Toorop 70 69, Ruan Korb 73 66, Christiaan Burke 71 68, Dan Erickson 67 (Par) [9], Stuart Krog 70 (-3) [9], Matthew Baldwin 69 (-2) [6], John Gough 69 (-2) [6], Nick Carlson 70 (-3) [6]
-4 - Haydn Porteous 69 71
-4 - Luis Carrera 72 68, Neil Schietekat 70 70, Lucas Vacarisas 68 72, Shaun Norris 71 69, Herman Loubser 69 71, Jack McDonald 70 70, Julien Quesne 67 73, Clement Sordet 70 70, Mikkel Antonsen 69 (-1) [9], Matthew Southgate 67 (+1) [9], Keenan Davidse 67 (+1) [9], Jaco Prinsloo 69 (-1) [9], Ronan Kleu 69 (-1) [9], Maxence Giboudot 71 (-3) [9], Nikhil Rama 69 (-1) [9], Alfie Plant 68 (Par) [9], Tyran Snyders 68 (Par) [9], Rowan Lester 70 (-2) [9], Santiago Tarrio 69 (-1) [6], Palmer Jackson 70 (-2) [6], Ryan Van Velzen 68 (Par) [6], Calum Fyfe 68 (Par) [6], Pieter Moolman 71 (-3) [6], Allen John 68 (Par) [6], Alexander Knappe 69 (-1) [6], Callum Tarren 70 (-2) [3], Austin Bautista 69 (-1) [3], Bjorn Akesson 67 (+1) [3]
Missed the cut:-
-3 - Benjamin Rusch 69 72
-3 - Haraldur Magnus 71 70, Julien Sale 70 71, Maximilian Kieffer 71 70, Jovan Rebula 74 67, Jacques Blaauw 71 70, Jacques P de Villiers 71 70, Lars van Meijel 68 73, Sebastian Friedrichsen 71 (-2) [9], Jeppe Kristian Andersen 69 (Par) [9], Jannik de Bruyn 70 (-1) [9], Altin van der Merwe 71 (-2) [6], Alfredo Garcia-Heredia 68 (+1) [6], Jean-Paul Strydom 69 (Par) [6], Hennie Otto 69 (Par) [6], Conor Purcell 68 (+1) [6], Borja Virto 67 (+2) [3], Tapio Pulkkanen 69 (Par) [3]
-2 - Pedro Figueiredo 73 69
-2 - Kyle Barker 71 71, CJ du Plessis 72 70, Malcolm Mitchell 73 69, Andrew Wilson 74 68, Jack Yule 72 70, Ethan Smith 73 69, Will Enefer 69 (+1) [9], Stefan Wears-Taylor 70 (Par) [6], Matthis Besard 69 (+1) [6], Vince van Veen 69 (+1) [6], Anders Ejlersen 71 (-1) [3], Franklin Manchest 69 (+1) [3], Yurav Premlall 68 (+2) [3], Hennie O'Kennedy 71 (-1) [3]
-1 - Victor Pastor 74 69
-1 - Karabo Mokoena 71 72, Pablo Ereno 75 68, Matthias Schwab 72 71, Sam Jones 70 73, Jacquin Hess 72 71, Toto Thimba Jnr 71 (Par) [9], Sam Locke 72 (-1) [9], Martin Rohwer 71 (Par) [9], Steven Brown 72 (-1) [6], Jamie Rutherford 72 (-1) [6], Tom Lewis 70 (+1) [6], Nick Bachem 72 (-1) [6], Jason Roets 71 (Par) [6], Pierre Viallaneix 72 (-1) [6]
Par - Kyle De Beer 69 75
Par - Samuel Simpson 69 75, Robin Sciot-Siegrist 73 71, Hurly Long 70 74, Robin Petersson 74 70, Joel Moscatel 68 76, Christofer Rahm 74 70, Robson Chinhoi 76 (-4) [9], Filip Mruzek 71 (+1) [9], Javier Barcos Garbayo 70 (+2) [9], Lyle Rowe 72 (Par) [6]
+2 - Oliver Bekker 68 78
+2 - Per Langfors 72 74, Robin Williams 75 71, Rhys Enoch 76 (-2) [6]
+3 - Jonathan Goth-Rasmussen 72 75
+3 - Kian Rose 75 72, Luke Jerling 74 73, Anton Albers 73 (+2) [9], Makhetha Mazibuko 76 (-1) [6], Liam Grehan 71 (+4) [6]
+4 - James Mack 75 73
+4 - Rupert Kaminski 75 73, Heinrich Bruiners 73 75, Jean Hugo 73 75, Asier Aguirre 77 71, Thomas Spreadborough 76 (Par) [9], Keelan Africa 73 (+3) [6]
+5 - Dylan Mostert 72 77
+5 - Martin Vorster 74 75, Stephen Ferreira 74 75, Maxwell Martin 75 (+2) [9], Ayden Knight 79 (-2) [6]
+6 - Benjamin Hebert 73 77
+6 - Rhys West 76 (+2) [3]
+7 - Jordan Duminy 73 78
+13 - Merrick Bremner 75 82
+13 - Warwick Purchase 81 76
WDN - George Coetzee 72 WDN