Jaco van Zyl will go into the final round of the SunBet Challenge Time Square tournament at Wingate Park Country Club with a one-stroke lead, but he says whether he nets a 16th Sunshine Tour title on Friday depends on whether the same golfer that shot 68 and 66 in the first two rounds pitches up again on the third day of the R2 million event.
Van Zyl posted a brilliant six-under-par 66 in the second round on Thursday to climb to 10-under-par for the tournament, heading out in the afternoon and surpassing the superb 64 posted by Anthony Michael which lifted him to nine-under alongside JC Ritchie (68).
“It depends on who pitches up: the head-in-the-clouds me who just wants to fly, or the feet-on-the-ground me who is here to play golf. Fortunately the golfer in me has pitched up these first two days and I’m very excited about the final round,” Van Zyl said on Thursday.
“I will just take it hole-by-hole and see what the golfing gods have in store for us. This is one of those golf courses where if you are really on song then it feels easy, but if you are a bit off your game then it can really bite you.
“But I’m playing nicely and putting very well. It’s good to be in this position on this golf course because it has not treated me very well in the past. I’m very chuffed,” Van Zyl said.
'MY BODY IS FEELING UNBELIEVABLE'
South Africa’s 2016 World Cup of Golf representative said a tip from a fellow competitor earlier this week had helped alleviate the previous frustrations he has experienced on the greens at the Wingate course, while the help of a biokineticist has him feeling in rampant form physically.
“I’ve always battled on these greens but then Malcolm Mitchell said at the start of the week that I must just look at the grain because that plays a big role on these greens. I started doing that on Monday and it was a ton better already, and I’ve put in plenty of hard work on the greens to get it right.
“And my body is feeling unbelievable since I’ve started working with a biokineticist, Bianca Bloemhof. I’m just trying to save as many swings as I can, and I’ve been doing mostly maintenance, but my body moved like I was 22 again today,” the 44-year-old said.
Jaco van Zyl credits “unbelievable” feeling body as he leads one shot heading into the final round. #SunBetChallengeTimeSquare | #SunBetChallenge | #GreatnessBeginsHere | #SunshineTour pic.twitter.com/MXIkk5XcbU
— Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour) August 17, 2023
Michael started his round on the 10th hole and started sedately with three straight pars, but then roared to nine-under-par in his next nine holes with eagles on the par-five 15th and second holes, as well as five birdies.
His only dropped shot came on the par-four fourth hole, but his eight-under 64 is the low round of the tournament and he will be confident of being in with a shout of claiming his second Sunshine Tour victory after his breakthrough win at Highland Gate almost exactly a year ago.
Mitchell, Jaco Prinsloo and Rhys West are sharing fourth place on eight-under-par, while South Africa’s highest-ranked golfer, Thriston Lawrence, roared up the leaderboard to three-under-par with a 65 on Thursday.
SCORES:
134 - Jaco Van Zyl 68 66
135 - Anthony Michael 71 64, JC Ritchie 67 68
136 - Jaco Prinsloo 69 67, Malcolm Mitchell 68 68, Rhys West 69 67
137 - Trevor Fisher Jnr 71 66
138 - Luca Filippi 67 71, Heinrich Bruiners 69 69
139 - Rupert Kaminski 72 67, Ryan Van Velzen 68 71, Martin Rohwer 70 69, Quintin Wilsnach 72 67
140 - Keegan Mclachlan 72 68
141 - Jason Smith 71 70, Stuart Krog 70 71, Estiaan Conradie 72 69, Tyron Davidowitz 70 71, Matthew Spacey 70 71, Thriston Lawrence 76 65, Jake Roos 69 72, Louis Albertse 70 71
142 - Daniel van Tonder 72 70, Luke Jerling 73 69, Robin Williams 70 72, Sean Bradley 73 69, Jacques Blaauw 70 72, James Hart du Preez 67 75, Fredrik From 69 73, Gerhard Pepler 74 68
143 - Allister de Kock 71 72, Adam Breen 75 68, Jonathan Broomhead 71 72, Jean Hugo 70 73, Madalitso Muthiya 72 71, Aneurin Gounden 71 72
144 - Danie Van Niekerk 70 74, Ruan Korb 70 74, James Mack 72 72, Willie Olivier 72 72, Michael Kok 73 71, Jonathan Waschefort 74 70, James Pennington 74 70, Richard Joubert 76 68, Jovan Rebula 75 69, Jacques P de Villiers 73 71, Deon Germishuys 77 67, Matias Calderon 71 73, Wynand Dingle 73 71, Yurav Premlall 70 74, Michael Hollick 75 69, Ricky Hendler 73 71
Missed the cut:
145 - Jason Roets 73 72, Keelan Africa 71 74, LB Boshoff 73 72, Siyanda Mwandla 76 69, Hayden Griffiths 73 72, Stefan Wears-Taylor 72 73, Pieter Moolman 76 69
146 - Vaughn van Deventer 75 71, Dan Erickson 73 73, Jared Harvey 72 74, Keelan van Wyk 74 72, Martin Vorster 72 74, Dayne Moore 73 73, Ruan de Smidt 74 72, Adriel Poonan 69 77
147 - Marcel Steyn Scholtz 69 78, Leon Visser 72 75, Toto Thimba Jnr 73 74, Hennie O'Kennedy 73 74, Hennie Otto 73 74, Erhard Lambrechts 74 73, Makhetha Mazibuko 77 70, Sean Cronje 78 69, Kyle McClatchie 73 74, Christiaan Basson 74 73, Franklin Manchest 73 74
148 - Ethan Smith 72 76, Ulrich van den Berg 73 75, Gerhard Trytsman 70 78, Lyle Rowe 74 74, Gregory Mckay 73 75, Peter Karmis 72 76, Alex Haindl 76 72, Musiwalo Nethunzwi 71 77, DK Kim 73 75, Karabo Mokoena 77 71, Callum Mowat 73 75, Keagan Thomas 72 76
149 - Tristin Galant 78 71, Nicholaus Frade 77 72, Riekus Nortje 73 76, Pierre Pellegrin 73 76, Nikhil Rama 75 74
150 - Travis Ladner 78 72, Ruan Conradie 75 75, Clancy Waugh 77 73, Thabang Simon 77 73, Merrick Bremner 78 72, Kyle Barker 76 74, David Wicks 79 71
151 - Brandon Smith 73 78, Combrinck Smit 78 73, Luke Brown 78 73, Albert Venter 79 72
152 - Hunter Epson 75 77, Wade Jacobs 75 77, Mandla Dlamini Jnr 76 76, Jacquin Hess 78 74, Robson Chinhoi 72 80
153 - Drikus Joubert 77 76, Chris Cannon 76 77, Jack Hawksby 72 81
154 - Sentanio Minnie 76 78, Omar Sandys 76 78, Reinhardt Blaauw 79 75
155 - Luke Trocado 77 78, Rourke van der Spuy 79 76, Steve Surry 76 79, Alphius Kelapile 76 79
157 - Jastice Mashego 78 79
158 - Mutahi Kibugu 78 80, Nyasha Muyambo 85 73, CJ du Plessis 78 80
159 - Jake Redman 81 78
162 - Sipho Bujela 81 81, Ryan Tipping 80 82, Christiaan Burke 82 80
166 - Irvin Mazibuko 81 85
177 - Gerard Moodley 88 89
DSQ - Slenda Sithebe 82 DSQ