Haydn Porteous held onto his top spot on the leaderboard in the Cell C Challenge in Honour of Gary Player and will take a three-stroke lead into the weekend at Killarney Country Club.
Porteous shared the first-round lead with a 64 and then distanced himself from the pack with another 64 on Friday to climb to 12 under par overall.
It was another flawless performance from Porteous who has yet to drop a shot in 36 holes.
His nearest challenger is England’s Joe Long who signed for a 63 on Friday to hit the halfway mark at nine under par.
Zimbabwe’s David Amm and Benjamin Follett-Smith, and the South African duo of Nikhil Rama and Herman Loubser are currently tied third on eight under par.
How things stand at the halfway point. 📊#CellCChallenge pic.twitter.com/iKrt1knzCp
— Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour) January 23, 2026
Porteous has continued to ride the momentum of a big 2025 in which he made his long-awaited return to the winner’s circle with his victory in the Vodacom Origins of Golf at Gowrie Farm where he was given an invitation by the Sunshine Tour and made the most of the opportunity.
“The win at Gowrie Farm was an awesome reboot for my career. For a long time I’ve battled with confidence and feeling like I’m moving in the right direction. Now for the first time in my career, I feel like I’m putting some big blocks down and building on them,” he said.
He also had the benefit of playing in a Blu Label Bushveld Tour event at Killarney Country Club the week before this Sunshine Tour event. Porteous missed the cut in that event with rounds of 75 and 69 and says it was a timely wake-up call for him.
“I realised I had a bit of rust in my game so I did some hard work towards the end of that week and leading up to this event, and it looks like that work has paid off.”
But arguably the biggest change in his game has come off the fairways.
“You know, getting married and welcoming our baby girl who is now coming up to four weeks old – you start to realise what life’s all about and that’s hopefully going to show in my game.”
SCORES
128 - Haydn Porteous 64 64
131 - Joe Long 68 63
132 - David Amm 65 67
132 - Nikhil Rama 66 66, Benjamin Follett-Smith 67 65, Herman Loubser 67 65
134 - Justin Walters 66 68
134 - Tyran Snyders 64 70, Karabo Mokoena 67 67, Jack Hawksby 67 67, Jason Roets 65 69
135 - James Mack 69 66
135 - Jordan Burnand 69 66, Jaco Ahlers 68 67, Keagan Thomas 72 63, Robson Chinhoi 65 70, Yurav Premlall 66 69, Makhetha Mazibuko 68 67
136 - Stefan Wears-Taylor 68 68
136 - Luke Brown 68 68, Thomas Spreadborough 67 69
137 - Tristen Strydom 67 70
137 - Kieron van Wyk 68 69, Benjamin Van Wyk 72 65, Wynand Dingle 70 67, Jonathan Broomhead 69 68
138 - Conner Mackenzie 66 72
138 - Jaco Prinsloo 71 67, Jean-Paul Strydom 69 69, Gerhard Pepler 68 70, Stals Swart 67 71, Musiwalo Nethunzwi 67 71, Christian Kriek 67 71, Hayden Griffiths 70 68, Altin van der Merwe 71 67, Estiaan Conradie 69 69, MJ Viljoen 66 72, Louis Albertse 67 71, Deon Germishuys 65 73, Tomas Gana 67 71, Matthew Spacey 68 70, Mikkel Antonsen 69 69, Pierre Pellegrin 69 69
139 - Stuart Krog 68 71
139 - Martin Rohwer 67 72, Rowan Lester 67 72, Stephen Ferreira 73 66, Joe Knox 67 72, Franklin Manchest 72 67, Xander Basson 65 74, Ryan Van Velzen 68 71, Kyle De Beer 67 72, Malcolm Mitchell 71 68, Graham van der Merwe 69 70, Pierre Viallaneix 65 74
Missed the cut:
140 - Kayle Wykes 70 70
140 - Pieter Moolman 68 72, Anthony Michael 69 71, Heinrich Bruiners 69 71, Slade Pickering 70 70, Callum Mowat 72 68, Sentanio Minnie 73 67, Peter Karmis 71 69, Ruan Conradie 71 69, JJ Senekal 68 72, Christiaan Burke 68 72, Trevor Fisher Jnr 69 71, Keenan Davidse 67 73, Jacquin Hess 69 71
141 - Danie Van Niekerk 72 69
141 - Lyle Rowe 71 70, Dylan Mostert 71 70, Brandon Meads 70 71, Kian Rose 70 71, Jason Broomhead 71 70, Ethan Smith 70 71, Tyrone Ryan 72 69, MJ Daffue 69 72, Keegan Mclachlan 67 74
142 - Zachary Chegwidden 69 73
142 - Ruan Korb 73 69, Kyle McClatchie 71 71, Thabiso Ngcobo 70 72, Wilco Nienaber 68 74, CJ du Plessis 72 70, Otto Van Buynder 69 73
143 - Albert Venter 73 70
143 - Allen John 67 76, Hennie O'Kennedy 74 69, Neil Schietekat 73 70, Ryan van der Klis 72 71, Ruan Groenewald 69 74, Nyasha Muyambo 71 72, Allister de Kock 74 69
144 - Luke Jerling 72 72
144 - Warwick Purchase 73 71, Doug McGuigan 72 72, Keelan van Wyk 72 72
145 - Simon du Plooy 73 72
145 - Jbe Kruger 71 74, Kyle Barker 70 75, Samuel Simpson 73 72, Toto Thimba Jnr 72 73, Daniel Cronje 72 73, Rhys West 71 74
146 - Rupert Kaminski 73 73
146 - Tyron Davidowitz 74 72, Robin Williams 71 75
147 - Ricky Hendler 76 71
147 - Jacques Blaauw 70 77, Merrick Bremner 72 75
148 - Martin Vorster 72 76
148 - Jean Hugo 78 70, Jacques P de Villiers 77 71
149 - Hennie Otto 73 76
149 - Liam Grehan 73 76, Keanu Pestana 73 76
150 - Quintin Wilsnach 74 76
150 - Jacques Van der Merwe 76 74, Werner Deyzel 75 75, Trevor Mahoney 80 70
151 - Jordan Duminy 76 75
151 - Marcel Steyn Scholtz 79 72, James Pennington 78 73
152 - Eric Wowor 83 69
152 - Leon Vorster 73 79
153 - Keelan Africa 75 78
153 - Khaya Jika 71 82, Tafadzwa Nyamukondiwa 72 81
155 - Mandla Dlamini Jnr 76 79
155 - John Bele 77 78
156 - Ruan de Smidt 74 82
158 - SP Mthethwa 80 78
158 - Umar Davids 78 80
168 - Evance Vukeya 88 80
WDN - Gregory Mckay 77 WDN
RTD - Tristin Galant RTD, Rourke van der Spuy RTD, Slenda Sithebe 82 DSQ