Ruan de Smidt carded a near-perfect round of three-under-par 69 on day two of the Altron Big Easy Tour to total four-under for the week and force himself into a three-way share of the lead ahead of the final round at Houghton Golf Club.
The Krugersdorp Golf Club player was four shots off Jacquin Hess’ lead after round one and with the weather a lot warmer than it was on Tuesday when the tournament started, De Smidt seized his opportunity to move up the leaderboard.
“It was a little of both good and bad this week,” De Smidt noted, “because it felt like yesterday I hit it really well but putted horribly. Today, for the first nine holes, I hit it really well again and I was two-under at the turn. Back nine, I hit it probably the worst I have hit it all year and went one-under but all in all, I am happy with the work this week.”
De Smidt birdied the third and sixth holes but gave a shot away on the eighth hole. He shrugged that solitary bogey off immediately and made up for it with a birdie before the turn. He then made seven straight pars as he played cautiously to avoid any big numbers that threatened to get onto his scorecard. His patience was finally rewarded when he birdied the par-four 17th to seal a round of 69 and play himself into contention going into the final round here.
“I think tomorrow I just have to go out and hit it better than I did today on the back nine,” said de Smidt of his approach to the final round. “If I had it better than I did in the first 27 holes, and just putt half decently, then I’m sure I will be in with a chance, at least.”
Hess shot a 73 but that was enough to see him retain his spot atop the leaderboard, albeit with companions. His second round was characterised by three bogeys and two birdies, numbers he will want to rectify in the final round if he is to claim his second title on this circuit.
Dainfern Golf Club’s Ricky Hendler finds himself in contention yet again, thanks to his hard-fought one-under 73 which took his tournament total to four-under. He made four birdies and three bogeys en route to his 71 and will be looking for an improved performance on day three if he is to challenge for honours on Thursday.
“I’m playing great golf,” Hendler said after his round, “but I just think I played the par-fives pretty poorly. But I have been in this situation four weeks in a row now, so I am going to think very hard about the strategy for tomorrow and really focus on my routine. I have to make sure that my caddie and I are on the same page and try to commit to every shot and hopefully, at the end of it, it’s going to be enough. But I won’t really worry about anybody else but myself.”
Tying fourth and just a shot off the lead, member of the Papwa Sewgolum Class Nikhil Rama and Portugal’s Carlos Laranja will feel that the opportunity is there for either of them to ascend to the summit when all is said and done here at Houghton Golf Club.
On a tournament total of two under, Nicholaus Frade and Samuel Simpson are in a share of sixth while DK Kim, Richard Kruger, Luan Boshoff, Dayne Moore, Keelan van Wyk and Zabastian de Jager share the eighth spot on one-under for the week.
The Big Easy Tour was founded in 2011 with support from Ernie Els and counts current international star Christiaan Bezuidenhout among its former Order of Merit winners.
SCORES
140 - Jacquin Hess 67 73, Ruan de Smidt 71 69, Ricky Hendler 69 71
141 - Carlos Laranja 69 72, Nikhil Rama 69 72
142 - Samuel Simpson 69 73, Nicholaus Frade 69 73
143 - DK Kim 75 68, Richard Kruger 69 74, Dayne Moore 70 73, LB Boshoff 73 70, Keelan van Wyk 72 71, Zabastian de Jager 72 71
144 - Reinhardt Blaauw 70 74, Yubin Jung 71 73, Marthin Scheepers 74 70, Jason Froneman 73 71, Matthew Rushton 71 73
145 - Gerhard Pepler 69 76, Stuart Krog 73 72, Makhetha Mazibuko 74 71, Karabo Mokoena 74 71, Adam Breen 69 76, Thabang Simon 75 70
146 - Noel Anderson 72 74, James Pennington 72 74, Aneurin Gounden 71 75, Luke Trocado 73 73, Byron Coetzee 76 70, Coert Groenewald 70 76
Missed the cut:-
147 - Mark Williams 73 74, Siyanda Mwandla 73 74, Steven Le Roux 76 71
148 - Bradley Diggeden 72 76, Francois van Staden 74 74, Pierre Pellegrin 73 75, Fezekile Kana 74 74, Brandon Moodley 74 74, Vaughn van Deventer 76 72
149 - Philip Geerts 75 74, Rigardt Albertse 72 77, Allister de Kock 75 74, Cameron Moralee 79 70, Carlo Heunis 77 72, Tumelo Molloyi 77 72
150 - Mike Maile 78 72, Andrew Williamson 73 77, Marcel Steyn Scholtz 76 74, Musiwalo Nethunzwi 74 76
151 - Cole Stevens 75 76, Wade Jacobs 79 72, Franklin Manchest 81 70, Willie Olivier 71 80
152 - Adriel Poonan 77 75, Regan Steyn 76 76, Clayton Mansfield 77 75, Ethan Smith 75 77, Jonathan Waschefort 76 76, Irvin Mazibuko 78 74, Keaton Slatter 82 70
153 - Leon Visser 76 77, Samual McKenzie 77 76, Sentanio Minnie 75 78, Joe Knox 77 76, Dwayne Basson 74 79, Lwazi Gqira 77 76, Gerard du Plooy 72 81, Nash de Klerk 73 80
154 - Alphius Kelapile 75 79, Keanu Pestana 75 79, Keegan Mclachlan 79 75, Keelan Africa 78 76, Slade Pickering 74 80, Shalan Govender 80 74, Henning du Plooy 78 76
155 - Christopher Bagnall 78 77, Jack Duthie 76 79
156 - Thanda Mavundla 76 80, Jean Van Niekerk 74 82, Ryan Tipping 77 79, Matthew Spacey 75 81
157 - Robson Saurombe 76 81
158 - John Bele 77 81
159 - Murad Hoosen 79 80
160 - Mandla Dlamini Jnr 84 76, Thabiso Ngcobo 84 76
161 - Slenda Sithebe 81 80
162 - Evance Vukeya 83 79
165 - Byron van der Merwe 85 80, Gerard Moodley 81 84
169 - Ricco Motsa 85 84
171 - Lincon Denzy Cele 88 83
WDN - Gregory Mckay 74 WDN
RTD - Jason Roets 74 RTD