South Africa’s Shaun Norris seized control of the Investec South African Open lead on a day when countryman Dylan Naidoo surged into contention with a 61, and England’s Dale Whitnell stunned the field with his two holes-in-one in a single round at Durban Country Club on Friday.
By the end of a long day in which the field had to complete the suspended first round and then go straight into the second, Norris finished off his opening 66 and then produced a second round of 64 to lead on 14 under par overall.
“I finished off the first round nicely and then just carried that into the second round. I’m hitting the ball nicely and putting myself in good positions where I’m looking at birdie all the time. I’m very happy. I’ve left a few putts out there, but that’s a positive for me because it means we can hopefully still go a little bit deeper,” said Norris.
The second round will have to be completed on Saturday morning following the delayed start on day one.
But it was one of those remarkable days in the history of this proud championship where anything that could happen pretty much did, including the rare feat of two holes-in-one by the same player in the same round.
Whitnell aced the par-three second hole with a seven iron, and then added another ace on the par-three 12th hole with a 50 degree wedge on his way to a second round of 63 and a tournament total of nine under par.
Both of @Dale_Whitnell's holes-in-one from the second round 🤯#InvestecSAOpen pic.twitter.com/jtbo1EngXP
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) February 28, 2025
His second round started with a birdie, hole-in-one and then an eagle in his first three holes and he went from fighting to make the cut to being right in the hunt for the title.
“That was a hot start. I didn’t realise the first hole-in-one went in until I heard the cheers. Then to have a second hole-in-one on the 12th is bizarre. It’s a weird feeling. I now have five holes-in-one, but this is the first time I’ve done so in a tournament. It’s incredible,” he said.
"Five under through three. Never done that before. Then I got another hole-in-one. Bizarre!"
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) February 28, 2025
Hear from the man himself after one of the craziest rounds you'll ever see 🔊#InvestecSAOpen pic.twitter.com/843KyngV4W
One man who also left nothing out there was Naidoo, who went on a scoring frenzy in which he admitted he didn’t even know what his score was at one stage as he signed for a 61 to finish Friday as Norris’s nearest challenger on 13 under par.
He’s chasing a DP World Tour title once again after also challenging for December’s AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.
“It’s crazy. I honestly had no idea what I shot. I was just trying to hit the best shots I could. I had a few spectators ask me on 11 what my score was and I said, ‘No clue’. But this shows me again I’m good enough to compete and I’ve got what it takes at this level,” said Naidoo, who is keenly aware of the history of Durban Country Club and the great Indian golfer Sewsunker “Papwa” Sewgolum’s place therein.
“It’s such a beautiful club and we’re lucky to be here, and it’s important to remember the history as well,” he said.
Former Investec South African Open champion Branden Grace finished Friday alongside Darren Fichardt and Andrea Pavan on 11 under par, while England’s Sam Bairstow was also on 11 under with 10 holes still to complete before darkness forced a suspension of play.
Christiaan Maas produced a masterful 64 to easily lead the amateur race for the Freddie Tait Cup on 10 under par overall, while another former Investec South African Open champion in Brandon Stone is just five shots off the lead.
How it stands in Durban 📊#InvestecSAOpen
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) February 28, 2025
SCORES - INCOMPLETE ROUND
- 14 - Shaun Norris 66 64
-13 - Dylan Naidoo 70 61
-11 - Darren Fichardt 63 70, Andrea Pavan 67 66, Branden Grace 65 68, Sam Bairstow 65 (-4) [8]
-10 - Christiaan Maas 70 64, Haotong Li 66 (-4) [9]
-9 - Marcel Siem 65 70, Dale Whitnell 72 63, Brandon Stone 68 67, John Parry 66 69, Justin Harding 67 (-4) [15], Todd Clements 66 (-3) [9], Fredrik From 65 (-2) [8]
-8 - Troy Merritt 69 67, Thomas Aiken 68 68, Jayden Schaper 66 (-2) [10]
-7 - Joost Luiten 67 70, Jaco Ahlers 70 67, Keith Horne 65 72, Marco Penge 68 (-3) [15], Ivan Cantero 68 (-3) [15], Rhys West 70 (-5) [15], Nikhil Rama 68 (-3) [13], Richie Ramsay 66 (-1) [12], Shubhankar Sharma 66 (-1) [12], Joel Girrbach 68 (-3) [9], Laurie Canter 69 (-4) [9]
-6 - Richard Mansell 71 67, Jacques Blaauw 69 69, David Ravetto 69 69, Jordan Gumberg 68 70, Ugo Coussaud 70 68, Rafa Cabrera Bello 68 (-2) [13]
-5 - Nathan Kimsey 70 69, Maximilian Steinlechner 67 72, Jean Hugo 70 69, Jeong Weon Ko 68 71, Michael Hollick 73 66, Lyle Rowe 71 68, Jorge Campillo 69 70, Manuel Elvira 71 68, Scott Jamieson 72 (-5) [15], Gavin Green 70 (-3) [13], Gregorio De Leo 68 (-1) [11], Jacques Kruyswijk 71 (-4) [10], MJ Viljoen 69 (-2) [9], Dean Burmester 69 (-2) [9]
-4 - Callum Tarren 71 69, Kazuma Kobori 67 73, Luke Jerling 69 71, Richard Sterne 68 72, Yurav Premlall 72 68, George Coetzee 71 69, Romain Langasque 69 71, Keelan van Wyk 69 71, Martin Vorster 74 (-6) [16], JC Ritchie 69 (-1) [13], Sean Crocker 72 (-4) [12], JJ Senekal 68 (Par) [12], Charl Schwartzel 72 (-4) [9], Andy Sullivan 71 (-3) [9], Dylan Frittelli 69 (-1) [8], Freddy Schott 70 (-2) [8], Malcolm Mitchell 70 (-2) [8], Aaron Cockerill 69 (-1) [7]
Missed the cut:
-3 - Jonathan Broomhead 71 70, Daniel van Tonder 76 65, Connor Syme 72 69, Casey Jarvis 72 69, Kieran Vincent 70 (-1) [9], Jens Dantorp 69 (Par) [7]
-2 - Ruan Korb 73 69, Alfredo Garcia-Heredia 72 70, Zander Lombard 67 75, Ricardo Gouveia 73 69, Calum Hill 74 68, Jacques P de Villiers 73 69, Angel Ayora 72 70, Rupert Kaminski 74 (-4) [13], Alejandro Del Rey 74 (-4) [11], Nicolas Colsaerts 69 (+1) [11], Robin Williams 72 (-2) [10], Jamie Donaldson 68 (+2) [10]
-1 - Peter Karmis 72 71, Rhys Enoch 73 70, Benjamin Follett-Smith 72 71, Matthias Schwab 75 68, Louis Albertse 74 69, Jovan Rebula 73 70, Matthew Baldwin 71 (Par) [13], Heinrich Bruiners 71 (Par) [12], Wilco Nienaber 72 (-1) [7]
Par - Kayle Wykes 74 70, Tom Vaillant 74 70, Jaco Van Zyl 71 73, Johannes Veerman 69 75, Kyle McClatchie 74 70, Sentanio Minnie 72 (Par) [13], Martin Couvra 68 (+4) [12], Chris Paisley 74 (-2) [11], Simon Forsstrom 74 (-2) [9], Adrian Otaegui 73 (-1) [7], Oliver Lindell 69 (+3) [7]
+1 - Ryggs Johnston 75 70, Martin Rohwer 71 74, Deon Germishuys 71 (+2) [16], Brandon Wu 71 (+2) [14], Kyle Barker 72 (+1) [12]
+2 - Bryan Newman 73 73, Ross Fisher 74 72, Ryan Van Velzen 73 73, Keenan Davidse 75 71, Toto Thimba Jnr 73 (+1) [15], Stefan Wears-Taylor 71 (+3) [11], Hennie Otto 74 (Par) [10], Astin Arthur 73 (+1) [9], Kristoffer Reitan 75 (-1) [7]
+3 - Brandon Meads 74 73, Stephen Ferreira 73 74, Pieter Moolman 74 73, Bjorn Akesson 74 73, Jordan Burnand 72 (+3) [15], Adrien Saddier 77 (-2) [12], Trevor Fisher Jnr 78 (-3) [11], Oliver Bekker 72 (+3) [11], Joel Moscatel 73 (+2) [8], Francesco Laporta 76 (-1) [7]
+4 - Dan Bradbury 72 76, Keagan Thomas 73 75, Neil Schietekat 77 (-1) [15], CJ du Plessis 73 (+3) [11], Ulrich van den Berg 73 (+3) [10], Jean-Paul Strydom 78 (-2) [9], Combrinck Smit 74 (+2) [8]
+5 - Charl Barnard 77 72, Quintin Wilsnach 75 (+2) [13], Jack Hawksby 78 (-1) [11], Franklin Manchest 74 (+3) [8]
+6 - Jordan Duminy 79 71, Thanda Mavundla 75 75, Ethan Smith 74 (+4) [14], Sean Paxton 75 (+3) [7]
+7 - Johan Theron 80 71, Mikael Lindberg 76 (+3) [14]
+9 - Joshua Berry 77 76
+10 - Herman Loubser 74 (+8) [16]
+12 - Gerhard Pepler 82 (+2) [8], Matthew Spacey 80 (+4) [7]
+14 - Robson Chinhoi 83 75
+15 - Albert Venter 81 78, Dylan Mostert 82 (+5) [13]
+18 - Tristin Galant 85 (+5) [12]
+21 - Steven Le Roux 84 (+9) [16]
WDN - Louis de Jager 77 WDN WDN