Pieter Moolman continued his good form of the past few weeks and claimed a share of a four-way tie for the lead through 36 holes of the Mediclinic Invitational at Centurion Country Club on Thursday.
Moolman signed for a 64 to join Ruan Korb (63), James Mack (64) and Ryan van Velzen (64) on 14 under par. The quartet are one stroke clear of George Coetzee, with a group of five players further back on 11 under par including first-round leader Jake Redman and Dylan Naidoo.
Moolman’s consistency over the past few weeks has seen him finish 14th, ninth, third and 28th in his last four tournaments. It’s been the kind of consistency that has lifted him into eighth place on the European Challenge Tour’s Road to Mallorca Rankings, and which has suggested he isn’t too far from adding to his Fortress Invitational victory on the Sunshine Tour last year.
Pieter Moolman is in contention heading into the 3rd round of the #MediclinicInvitational
— Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour) March 9, 2023
?? Watch this birdie on his 9th hole #GreatnessBeginsHere #SunshineTour pic.twitter.com/9SMOnthmnL
Moolman’s 64 on Thursday was also a perfect case of the vagaries of golf where his exceptional putting helped when his ball-striking was not what he would’ve liked it to be.
“I don’t feel like I’m hitting the ball as well as I’d like to, but I’m making more putts and that’s helping a lot. In this game, I believe if you are making all of your putts inside 10 feet and are just an average ball striker, you are capable of being in the top 30 in the world,” he said.
The consistency of his past performances is also not lost on Moolman.
“I think that’s all you want as a professional golfer, is to just have a chance. You just want to have that chance to be in contention and to win a tournament. I feel like I’ve been playing really well and my game is good enough that when the putts drop I can win. That’s all I’m trying to do – is to give myself a chance to win every week I play. If I can combine how I putted today and how I struck the ball at a tournament a few weeks ago, I’ll shoot great scores.”
Moolman says he foresees the low scoring to continue over the final two rounds.
SCORES:
130: - Ruan Korb 67 63, James Mack 66 64, Pieter Moolman 66 64, Ryan Van Velzen 66 64
131: - George Coetzee 65 66
133:- Jake Redman 64 69, Fredrik From 69 64, Kyle Barker 66 67, Dylan Naidoo 65 68, Louis Albertse 66 67
134: - Keagan Thomas 65 69, Yurav Premlall 68 66, Robin Williams 66 68
135 - Sean Cronje 67 68, Reinhardt Blaauw 69 66, Rhys West 67 68, Albert Venter 67 68
136 - Combrinck Smit 69 67, Martin Rohwer 68 68, Stefan Wears-Taylor 66 70
137 - Pierre Pellegrin 69 68, Ulrich van den Berg 68 69, Jake Roos 69 68, Jared Harvey 66 71, Keegan Mclachlan 69 68, Christiaan Burke 67 70, Luke Brown 65 72, Richard Joubert 70 67
138 - Bradley Bawden 69 69, Trevor Fisher Jnr 65 73, Hennie O'Kennedy 71 67, Rupert Kaminski 68 70, Clayton Mansfield 70 68, Allister de Kock 70 68, Wade Jacobs 69 69, Dean O'Riley 70 68, Coert Groenewald 67 71, Anton Karlsson 70 68, Jean-Paul Strydom 72 66, CJ du Plessis 67 71, Martin Vorster 68 70, Lyle Rowe 71 67, Sean Bradley 73 65, Kyle McClatchie 69 69
139 - Aneurin Gounden 69 70, DK Kim 71 68, Dan Erickson 73 66, Michael Hollick 70 69, Callum Mowat 70 69, Haydn Porteous 70 69, Musiwalo Nethunzwi 68 71, Keelan van Wyk 71 68, Franklin Manchest 70 69, Merrick Bremner 66 73, Michael Palmer 72 67, Ockie Strydom 67 72, Jaco Van Zyl 69 70, Therion Nel 69 70
140 - Jacques Blaauw 66 74, Ruan Conradie 71 69, Samuel Simpson 69 71, Jason Smith 74 66, James Kamte 69 71, Matthew Spacey 73 67, Erhard Lambrechts 69 71
Missed the cut:
141 - Toto Thimba Jnr 72 69, Jacquin Hess 68 73, Luke Jerling 70 71, Jovan Rebula 71 70, Harry Konig 72 69, Clinton Grobler 73 68, Irvin Mazibuko 71 70, Wynand Dingle 67 74, Gerard du Plooy 70 71, Christiaan Basson 68 73, Herman Loubser 76 65, Luca Filippi 69 72, Evance Vukeya 71 70, Keelan Africa 70 71, Heinrich Bruiners 71 70, Hennie Otto 71 70, Thanda Mavundla 71 70
142 - Andre De Decker 68 74, Andre Van Dyk 71 71, Steve Surry 71 71, Danie Van Niekerk 73 69, Madalitso Muthiya 73 69, Gerrit Foster 67 75, Leon Vorster 69 73, Adam Breen 74 68, Malcolm Mitchell 70 72, Peter Karmis 74 68, Matias Calderon 73 69, Jacques P de Villiers 69 73
143 - Chris Cannon 72 71, Siyanda Mwandla 70 73, Steven Le Roux 70 73, Vaughn van Deventer 74 69, Peetie van der Merwe 74 69, Chris Swanepoel 71 72
144 - Sentanio Minnie 71 73, Dayne Moore 72 72, Makhetha Mazibuko 73 71, Tumelo Molloyi 74 70, Shaahid Mahmed 73 71, Michael Kok 75 69, Paul Boshoff 72 72, Philip Eriksson 71 73, Doug McGuigan 73 71, Stephen Ferreira 75 69, Ricky Hendler 74 70, Slenda Sithebe 68 76
145 - Mark Maart 71 74, John Bele 72 73, Adriel Poonan 75 70, Wallie Coetsee 75 70, Thabang Simon 72 73, Maverick Faber 73 72, Hayden Griffiths 70 75, Gerhard Pepler 70 75, Jean Hugo 71 74, Ruan de Smidt 74 71, Nicholaus Frade 71 74
146 - Karabo Mokoena 72 74, Nikhil Rama 76 70, Riekus Nortje 72 74, Lindani Ndwandwe 70 76
147 - Alex Haindl 72 75, Dwayne Basson 78 69
148 - Joshua Seale 75 73, Anthony Michael 71 77, Tristin Galant 70 78, Henning du Plooy 73 75, Dion Fourie 71 77, Thabiso Ngcobo 73 75
149 - Clancy Waugh 74 75, Shalan Govender 72 77, Mohammad Rauf Mandhu 82 67, Lincon Denzy Cele 76 73, Mike Maile 74 75
150 - Mandla Dlamini Jnr 73 77
151 - Omar Sandys 73 78, Quintin Wilsnach 77 74
152 - SP Mthethwa 76 76, James Pennington 73 79
153 - Jastice Mashego 77 76
156 - Ricco Motsa 77 79, Alphius Kelapile 78 78
158 - Brandon-Jude Rennie 83 75
159 - Boeta Nasie 83 76
160 - Gerard Moodley 84 76
161 - Lwazi Gqira 84 77, Sipho Bujela 79 82
165 - Brandon Moodley 81 84, Sandy Makume 85 80
166 - Byron van der Merwe 83 83