The experienced Louis de Jager has fired rounds of 65 and 67 for 12-under-par in the Vodacom Origins of Golf Highland Gate Mpumalanga event, but he has no more than a one-shot lead after the second round on Saturday.
That’s because fellow veteran Jean Hugo, who has played in more than 450 Sunshine Tour events, has gone 66-67 for a score of 11-under-par heading into the final round.
Kyle de Beer, the leading rookie on tour this season, is one stroke further back on 10-under after shooting a 70 on Saturday, contending strongly in just his 25th Sunshine Tour event.
De Jager started his round on the 10th and took a while to really find his range, but birdies on the par-four 16th and par-five 18th gave him a boost. His front nine was even better, even though he bogeyed the par-four first hole.
The 37-year-old birdied the par-three third hole and also picked up birdie threes on the sixth and ninth holes, but perhaps his best hole was the par-five fifth, which is more than 600 yards long and plays into the wind, but De Jager eagled it on Saturday.
ALL TO PLAY FOR
It will not be an easy night’s sleep though for De Jager going into the final round of the R2 million event because there is a surfeit of quality within four shots of the lead.
Apart from Hugo and De Beer, Luke Brown is enjoying a very solid tournament and is on nine-under-par after rounds of 67 and 68. Jacques Blaauw is enjoying a top-class season, leading the Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy, and is tied for fifth on eight-under after notching a two-under-par 70 on Saturday.
Martin Rohwer, a three-time winner on the Sunshine Tour, and Nikhil Rama, a GolfRSA product who is a rising star in the senior ranks, are also on eight-under.
A trio of Sunshine Ladies Tour golfers made the cut, with Danielle du Toit (69) and Gabrielle Venter (72) tied for 35th on one-under-par, and Lora Assad tied for 47thon level-par.