Viljoen’s putter undoes the disservice of his recent average scores
Finishes of 19th, 15th and 12th so far in the Rise Up Series have probably done a disservice to how well MJ Viljoen has been hitting the ball, but on Wednesday the Bloemfontein golfer put it all together with his putting and was able to post the really low score that has been threatening for a while now.
Viljoen shot a marvellous eight-under-par 64 on Wednesday to claim a two-shot lead after the first round of the Vodacom Championship Unlocked at ERPM Golf Club in Boksburg and said afterwards that recent hard work on his putting had paid off.
“It was lovely, a good day with nice weather in the morning and I’m very happy with how I played. A couple of things that I have been working on came together nicely. In the last two years I’ve done a lot of work on my swing, getting it right technically, and maybe I neglected my putting a bit. I was just average on the greens and I’ve been working on getting the ball in the hole more.
“It took a bit of time to figure the greens out, and I don’t want to give the secret away, but then I could trust where the ball was going to go. I’ve played really well from tee-to-green lately and if I had made a few more 10-footers I would have won some trophies. But now that I’ve got used to my new swing and given time to that, being able to figure out my putting has helped a lot,” Viljoen, whose solitary Sunshine Tour win came three years ago at the Sun Fish River Challenge, said after his round.
Viljoen dropped just one shot on Wednesday, on the par-four eighth hole, his penultimate hole, and his nine birdies held at bay a group of four golfers on six-under-par – Jake Redman, the in-form Danie van Tonder, Neil Schietekat and rookie Paul Boshoff.
Jacques Blaauw and Coert Groenewald were on five-under-par 67 and waiting in the parlour to try and snatch the lead in Thursday’s penultimate round, with a large group of five golfers behind them on four-under – the exciting young Thriston Lawrence, veteran Keith Horne, Lyle Rowe, Dylan Mostert and current order of merit leader Darren Fichardt.
Whether Viljoen will let them in, however, remains to be seen because he is certainly hungry to win again and feels right at home at the 117-year-old ERPM Golf Club, an old-fashioned parklands course.
“I grew up playing a lot here for Ekurhuleni Juniors and it was great to get something going today. It’s quite a tight course so I wouldn’t say you feel so comfortable, but being able to hit the ball in the right places makes it easier. If you can control the ball well then you can get a nice score here. I told my caddy on the drive down from Bloemfontein that if you get on a roll here then you can shoot 63/64.
“After winning at Fish River, I went on a bit of a celebration spree, but then I woke up and I’ve got my act together. I really want to try and win again and this would be a good week to do it. It’s a course I can definitely go low on, but there’s a lot of golf still to be played,” Viljoen said.