Veteran campaigner Ulrich van den Berg carded a round of four-under-par 66 to take a one-shot lead in the Betway Big Easy Tour Pla-Off tournament at Killarney Country Club on Thursday.
The weather-delayed Play-Off event, scheduled to begin on Tuesday 18th, finally teed off on Thursday after some heavy rains left the course waterlogged and unplayable on Tuesday and Wednesday.
As such, what was initially a 54-hole event has now been shortened to a 36-hole spectacle, with the top 30 players on the Order of Merit after this event going on to The Final at The Els Club Copperleaf, next month.
Van den Berg, a multiple time Sunshine Tour winner, produced an eventful round of 66 on this par-70 layout, characterised by seven birdies and three dropped shots.
“I have been hitting a couple more balls than I’m used to,” revealed Van den Berg after his round. “Obviously trying to get ready for next week’s SA Open. And, I hit the ball well. I wited patiently and then made three birdies in the last six holes, so it was a patient day.
“I made a couple mistakes but all in all I’m very thrilled with how I played today. The course was really wet but amazingly, the greens were incredible and didn’t show any signs of having been waterlogged.
"There were a couple of the par-fours on the low-lying areas on the front nine that were a little wetter than most. But, by and large, I was surprised that we could actually get to play.”
JOE KNOX CLOSE ON THE HEELS
England’s Joe Knox shot 67 to trail by a single shot, giving himself a shot at glory. Three birdies and an eagle were accompanied by two bogeys in Knox’s scorecard but that will not bother him much as he is in with a real chance of challenging for a win here this week.
“I have played here a lot of times and got bitten trying to be too aggressive,” Knox said. “I knew today that you just had to hit it to spots and accept that you're going to have some good irons in. So, it was nice to play well today."
This play-off event follows 10 regular-season events after which only the top 50 players on the Order of Merit earned their way into this week’s tournament. From this event, the top 30 players on the rankings will head to Pretoria for The Final.
From there, only the top 12 players on the final points standings will earn their Sunshine Tour cards for next season. The Betway Big Easy Tour is the main feeder circuit to the Sunshine Tour and enjoys the support of legendary South African golfer, Ernie Els, among others.