Shaun Norris battled through the pain of an ear infection and still managed to lead the Joburg Open heading into the weekend at Houghton Golf Club.
The South African produced a strong 63 on Friday to lead on 11 under par overall, with Frenchman Adrien Saddier his nearest challenger on 10 under after a 65 in which he dropped at the last to sacrifice a share of the lead.
🎥 Shaun Norris’s last two birdies of his round to help him card the joint lowest round of the week. 📊 #JoburgOpen pic.twitter.com/g5BYh0II6a
— Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour) March 7, 2025
Norris has played sublime golf over the past two days despite the fact that he has been in pain with an ear infection that refuses to clear, and which has even made it difficult for him to sleep.
“I picked it up on Tuesday afternoon. I saw the doctor on Wednesday. They tried to flush it out and it didn’t work. They put me on antibiotics. It’s frustrating. I can’t hear anything out of my left ear. But somehow it’s not bothering me on the golf course. I think as golfers, when we’re over the shot we’re focused on nothing else. But it is annoying in between shots because I just can’t hear anything out of that ear,” said Norris, who admits he was concerned about the impact an ear infection would have on his balance and his golf swing.
“That was my main concern, but fortunately it hasn’t hindered me at all.”
Beware the wounded golfer. 😣 #JoburgOpen #SunshineTour #DPWorldTour pic.twitter.com/8SLjuv55EB
— Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour) March 7, 2025
It certainly didn’t trouble Norris on Friday as he went bogey free around this par-70 Houghton Golf Club layout.
“The course is in fantastic condition considering the rain we’ve had over the last few days, and I’m really enjoying it.”
Norris heads into the weekend hunting his third DP World Tour title, and his second in just under three months after winning December’s Alfred Dunhill Championship.
India’s Shubhankar Sharma, the winner of the 2017 Joburg Open, and Scotland’s Connor Syme are currently third on nine under par.
Sharma in particular is looking forward to a weekend at a tournament that holds special memories for him.
“Coming back to South Africa is always special, and the Joburg Open was my first win and which got me onto the DP World Tour. I still fondly remember my win here. It was life changing,” he said.
Some of the best shots from the day. 🎥⛳️#JoburgOpen pic.twitter.com/TJHPH3PRhp
— Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour) March 7, 2025
SCORES
129 - Shaun Norris 66 63
130 - Adrien Saddier 65 65
131 - Connor Syme 66 65, Shubhankar Sharma 66 65
132 - Richard Mansell 65 67, Joost Luiten 66 66, Nicolai Von Dellingshausen 64 68, Wenyi Ding 63 69, Jacques Kruyswijk 65 67, Callum Tarren 64 68
133 - Marco Penge 64 69, Ugo Coussaud 65 68, Daniel Brown 68 65
134 - Maximilian Steinlechner 67 67, Ben Schmidt 68 66, Rhys West 66 68, Malcolm Mitchell 64 70, Jayden Schaper 64 70, Jaco Ahlers 66 68
135 - Francesco Laporta 67 68, Calum Hill 69 66, Todd Clements 68 67, Daniel van Tonder 67 68, Kieran Vincent 66 69, Niklas Lemke 71 64, Sean Crocker 67 68, Dylan Frittelli 65 70, Louis Albertse 67 68, Jordan Gumberg 71 64
136 - Gerhard Pepler 69 67, Thomas Aiken 70 66, Adrian Otaegui 69 67, Brandon Robinson Thompson 68 68, Veer Ahlawat 73 63, Marcel Siem 70 66, George Coetzee 67 69
137 - Hennie Otto 66 71, Richie Ramsay 70 67, Jeong Weon Ko 69 68, Rhys Enoch 69 68, Brandon Stone 67 70, Alfredo Garcia-Heredia 69 68, Bjorn Akesson 68 69, Jacob Olesen 65 72, Martin Rohwer 69 68, Gavin Green 65 72, Jaco Van Zyl 67 70, Romain Langasque 67 70, Jordan Smith 63 74
138 - Freddy Schott 70 68, Andy Sullivan 70 68, Jens Dantorp 71 67, Ryan Van Velzen 70 68, Matthew Southgate 71 67, Nathan Kimsey 68 70, Ross Fisher 68 70, Robin Williams 67 71, Ewen Ferguson 69 69, Franklin Manchest 68 70, Luke Brown 69 69, Alexander Levy 67 71, Ryggs Johnston 70 68, Martin Vorster 69 69, Kyle McClatchie 70 68
139 - Luke Jerling 71 68, Benjamin Follett-Smith 69 70, Kyle Barker 69 70, Michael Hollick 68 71, Graham van der Merwe 71 68, Jacques P de Villiers 70 69, Danny List 66 73, Zander Lombard 71 68, Pieter Moolman 69 70, Jacques Blaauw 70 69, Darius van Driel 69 70, Sam Bairstow 69 70, Nikhil Rama 68 71, Pierre Pineau 70 69
MISSED THE CUT:
140 - Lyle Pedro 71 69, Ethan Smith 71 69, Stals Swart 71 69, MJ Viljoen 70 70, Louis de Jager 73 67, Simon Forsstrom 73 67, Robson Chinhoi 72 68, Casey Jarvis 71 69, Dan Bradbury 71 69, Alejandro Del Rey 70 70, Ricardo Gouveia 72 68, Kayle Wykes 70 70, Jordan Duminy 68 72, Merrick Bremner 68 72, Tom Vaillant 68 72, Wilco Nienaber 65 75, Heinrich Bruiners 70 70, Aaron Cockerill 67 73, Dylan Naidoo 70 70, Toto Thimba Jnr 67 73
141 - Haydn Porteous 73 68, Julien Brun 69 72, CJ du Plessis 71 70, Richard Sterne 69 72, Lucas Bjerregaard 72 69, Jack Senior 65 76, David Ravetto 74 67, Deon Germishuys 70 71, Tapio Pulkkanen 68 73, Combrinck Smit 73 68, Manuel Elvira 70 71, Jean Hugo 71 70
142 - Dylan Mostert 72 70, Darren Fichardt 71 71, Danie Van Niekerk 76 66, Dale Whitnell 68 74, Nicolas Colsaerts 72 70
143 - Matthias Schwab 73 70, Rafa Cabrera Bello 74 69, Lyle Rowe 76 67, JC Ritchie 74 69, John Parry 72 71, Ruan Korb 73 70, Neil Schietekat 74 69
144 - Peter Karmis 74 70, Mikael Lindberg 69 75, Jovan Rebula 72 72, Corey Shaun 75 69, Matthew Spacey 70 74, Joel Girrbach 73 71, Jonathan Broomhead 72 72, Johannes Veerman 71 73
145 - Ruan Conradie 76 69, Trevor Fisher Jnr 72 73, Joel Moscatel 73 72, Matthew Baldwin 73 72, Yurav Premlall 72 73, Ivan Verster 76 69
146 - Musiwalo Nethunzwi 70 76, Jake Redman 72 74, Jastice Mashego 72 74, Scott Jamieson 72 74
147 - Ivan Cantero 71 76, Keith Horne 76 71, Kazuma Kobori 70 77
148 - Stefan Wears-Taylor 78 70, JJ Senekal 75 73, Albert Venter 75 73
149 - Anthony Michael 77 72, Trevor Mahoney 72 77
150 - Rupert Kaminski 71 79
151 - Hayden Griffiths 73 78, Makhetha Mazibuko 71 80
154 - Keelan van Wyk 77 77
159 - Tristin Galant 81 78
WDN - Stephen Ferreira 83 WDN, Oliver Bekker 69 RTD, Keenan Davidse 75 RTD