Ken Borland

Oliver Bekker has always seemed to be one of those cheerful, almost happy-go-lucky characters out on the golf course, but in private he was probably anguishing over winning more tournaments.

But the 36-year-old is now experienced enough to know that too much expectation can be as damaging as a lack of confidence.

Bekker still looks so comfortable and under control on the course and his maturity is reflected in how his career is progressing. Having won seven times on the Sunshine Tour, he competed on the European Challenge Tour this year and finished seventh on the order of merit, earning his card for the 2022 DP World Tour.

Now he leads the South African Open by three strokes midway through the tournament at the Gary Player Country Club, adding a 67 on Friday to his brilliant 65 on the opening day.

But proving that he is now at a different level by winning the SA Open is not on his mind.

“I don’t want to put myself under a lot of pressure,” Bekker said on Friday. “Every round I just want to try shoot under par and I’ve learnt that one or two under par every day is generally good enough.

“So I just try to grind it out every day, keep chipping away, and if you do keep under par then you will be there or thereabouts at the end of the day.”

That pragmatic approach combined with a razor-sharp short game saw Bekker collect six birdies in the second round, with his bogey on the par-four second hole his only dropped shot. He chipped in from just off the green for birdies on both the 14^th and 16^th holes, while he sunk a 40-foot birdie putt on the par-four eighth. And then there were also the up-and-downs when he managed to salvage par.

“It was really tough today, especially at the start when judging the wind was so tricky. You had about a five-second window to play your shot otherwise the wind would come from a different direction.

“But it settled down a bit, it was more consistent on the back nine and I got a bit closer to the pins and chipped in twice. I also scrambled really well and made my up-and-downs.

“Having the halfway lead means I’ve done half the job pretty well, now to finish the job. I haven’t made many mistakes and it helps when you’re so sharp around the greens. If I can keep sharp then there should be lots of opportunities over the weekend,” Bekker said.

Neil Schietekat, who shared the first-round lead with Bekker, did not manage quite as good a demolition job on the course on Friday, but still fired a two-under-par 70 to stay in touch on nine-under-par, three shots back.

“I was searching for my swing a bit and if that’s my bad round then I’m chuffed,” Schietekat said.

Justin Harding shot a wonderful 67 on Friday to join Schietekat on nine-under, while Danie van Tonder (68), Lyle Rowe (71) and Hennie du Plessis (70) are on seven-under.

It may no longer be a co-sanctioned event, but the allure of playing the SA Open at Gary Player Country Club and having a shot at hoisting that famous and imposing multi-tiered trophy certainly brought out the best of Neil Schietekat on the first day at Sun City on Thursday.

Schietekat fired a marvellous seven-under-par 65 to join Oliver Bekker at the top of the leaderboard and afterwards pronounced his love for the famous Gary Player-designed course, where he won the SunBet Challenge in 2018.

“In my opinion this is the best course in the country and it helps that I’ve won here before,” Schietekat said after collecting six birdies and an eagle. “Obviously I’m going to lean towards this course, but I do love it and I played it today the same way as when I won in 2018.

“When they moved the SA Open here last year, I thought that maybe gave me a better chance of winning it. There’s still a long way to go, but I hit some good shots today on a course that was quite soft.

“It no longer being co-sanctioned with the DP World Tour is another story, but everyone here still wants to win it. It’s still our national open and it’s still the same trophy that you’ll hoist if you do win,” Schietekat said.

Bekker went out early on Thursday morning and made a fast start from the 10^th hole with three successive birdies. The seven-time Sunshine Tour winner was out in 32 and then eagled the first as he came home in 33. Schietekat admitted he felt a bit of pressure chasing the score set by Bekker.

“The scores were pretty good in the morning and I was one-over through four holes, so you put a bit of pressure on yourself,” the 37-year-old from Harrismith said.

But he finally caught him with a run of three successive birdies from the fourth hole, having eagled the par-five first as he spun a pitch-shot back into the hole despite “cursing” himself for finding the fairway bunker from the tee.

Having enjoyed a fine season which includes eight top-10 finishes in 16 events, Schietekat looks well-equipped to win again at the Gary Player Country Club.

But European Tour campaigner Bryce Easton and the experienced Lyle Rowe are just one shot behind on six-under, while there is a group of four golfers tied in fifth place on five-under – Hennie du Plessis, Albert Venter, Heinrich Bruiners and Hennie O’Kennedy.

Former world top 50 golfer Justin Harding is three strokes off the lead after a 68, while the other favourites – Shaun Norris (69), Danie van Tonder (69), defending champion Christiaan Bezuidenhout (70), Dylan Frittelli (70), Dean Burmester (71) and Brandon Stone (72) – have some catching up to do but are decently placed.

The Europeans may be largely missing but it does not detract from the tournament as the South African Open remains the biggest event of the year for local golfers, both the young and the old agreed at the Gary Player Country Club on Wednesday.

The hysterical reaction to the Omicron variant has ensured the 111^th SA Open (the second oldest national open in golf) is no longer the second event of the new DP World Tour but is just a Sunshine Tour tournament. But the 156-man field will have as much focus on the famous trophy though as the $500 000 prize fund when they tee off on Thursday.

The flagship event remains one of the most cherished weeks in South African golf and being played at the Gary Player Country Club course at Sun City, the host of the Nedbank Golf Challenge that has provided so many historic moments, but has sadly been unable to be held during these times of Covid.

GolfRSA and the South African Golf Association are the custodians of the SA Open and there is always a strong amateur contingent at the event, aiming for the Freddie Tait Cup for the best-placed amateur who makes the cut.

Christiaan Maas is the reigning SA Amateur champion and No.1 in the rankings, and he said the anticipation building into the tournament has been huge.

“It’s such a big tournament and I’ve been looking forward to it since last year after winning the SA Amateur. This week is a very big thing for me because this is the biggest tournament in South Africa,” the 18-year-old Maas said on Wednesday.

At the other end of the scale, James Kingston is a former SA Open champion, having won at Pearl Valley in 2007. Having turned 56 this week, he is delighted to be mixing it with the youngsters once again.

“The thrill of playing in the SA Open never wears off, it is the most treasured event in South African golf. I’m sure it’s the same with other countries and their national open,” Kingston said.

“This is the most sought after title in South African golf and to be able to come to Sun City, having won the tournament before, means the world to me,” Kingston said.

The Gary Player Country Club has been craftily designed to be the ultimate test of stamina, skill and accuracy though, and merely straying into the rough can be devastating. The lengthy 7105m course has caused the cremation of many a top golfer’s hopes.

Long hitters like Shaun Norris, Wilco Nienaber, defending champion Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Danie van Tonder could be favoured, but don’t discount the skilful golfers like Garrick Higgo, Dylan Frittelli or Justin Harding, or those in hot form like Joburg Open winner Thriston Lawrence, European Tour star Dean Burmester or JC Ritchie.

This week’s South African Open at Sun City may be missing the vast majority of the overseas contingent, but claiming the title of the second-oldest national open in golf is still not going to be easy with four golfers ranked inside the world’s top-100 leading the field at the Gary Player Country Club from Thursday.

Defending champion Christiaan Bezuidenhout is the highest ranked of those at No.48, but Garrick Higgo will be breathing down his neck, as he is on the rankings in 57^th place, as the duo battle for the unofficial crown of being South Africa’s hottest young golfer.

Current form will probably count for more than the rankings though and the other two top-100 players in the field – Dean Burmester and Shaun Norris – are both in fine form and should pose a serious challenge.

Norris, who finished tied for third in last weekend’s Joburg Open, has been wonderfully consistent over the last few months. In 11 events on the Japanese Tour, he won the Japan Open, had three other top-10 finishes and five in the top-20. Norris has enjoyed considerable success in Asia through the years, but will want to show just how good he is on home turf in the SA Open.

Burmester finished in the top-10 at both the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, finishing in a career-best 18^th place on the European tour’s order of merit. He is another who is a better golfer than many may think.

Another contender to look out for is world number 111 Dylan Frittelli, who plays alongside Bezuidenhout and Higgo on the U.S. PGA Tour and will be angry with his second and final round in the Joburg Open, when he shot one-over-par and dropped out of contention after his first-round 67 in the event that was reduced to 36 holes by the weather and Covid travel restrictions.

Those travel bans from South Africa have decimated the field in terms of overseas competitors, but there are still a few who will be teeing it up at Sun City.

Welshman Rhys Enoch is a regular Sunshine Tour competitor and he won the Cape Town Open in 2018 and the KitKat Group Pro-Am in March this year.

Scotsman David Drysdale and Brazil’s Adilson da Silva are also seasoned Sunshine Tour campaigners, Johannes Veerman is an American who won the Czech Masters on the European Tour this year and played in both the U.S. Open and the Open Championship.

There are even still a couple of Englishmen in the field in Steve Surry and Chris Cannon.