Ken Borland

PRETORIA – Thriston Lawrence and Jacques Blaauw both fired outstanding 10-under-par 62s to share the lead in a meeting of two of South African golf’s most in-form stars in the first round of the SunBet Challenge Times Square Casino at Wingate Park Country Club on Wednesday.

Lawrence, who is currently sixth on the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai, is back in South Africa to complete his rehabilitation from a back injury he suffered after the Open Championship a month ago. His first competitive round since then could barely have gone better as he plundered eight birdies and an eagle on the 6740m course in south-eastern Pretoria.

The winner of eight professional events, including four on the DP World Tour, was part of the morning field, while Blaauw, who is leading the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy and is eager to return full-time to the European tour, was off at 11.50am.

The 38-year-old Blaauw made a blazing start to his round as he set out to catch Lawrence, reaching the turn in six-under-par, which included an eagle on the 381m par-four sixth hole. Although he bogeyed the par-four 11^th, Blaauw finished strong with five birdies in the last seven holes.

“I’ve had four weeks off since hurting my back a bit at the Open and I’m not a big fan of hitting lots of balls on the range, so I felt playing this tournament would help my rehab more. And I love to compete,” Lawrence said.

“But I was still quite surprised how well it went because I’ve only played two practice rounds in the last few weeks, I didn’t expect 10-under. But the back is good and game is solid.

“I started on 10 and the eagle came on 18 after I hit a nice drive and had a good number for a nine-iron in; I hit it to three feet for a simple eagle. That got my momentum going, I had four birdies in a row to start the front nine, I was on fire,” Lawrence said.

Blaauw, who is enjoying his best season in nearly a decade with five successive top-10 finishes on the Sunshine Tour, including victory in the SunBet Challenge Sun City event, admitted the presence of Lawrence, and the fact he had shot 62, motivated him.

“What Thriston shot told me there was obviously a low score out there. I started quickly so I knew something was up. I’ve been playing good golf of late and it all came together today,” Blaauw said.

“When our DP World Tour stars play here you always want to beat them and Thriston has been playing some unbelievable golf lately. But I’ve showed I can play great golf at home, hopefully I can do the same elsewhere. Getting full status in Europe has been my plan from January and now it’s just about keeping things going.

“It’s about sticking to the processes, just letting it happen and not trying to force things. Just keep giving myself opportunities because the putter is working,” Blaauw said.

The six-time Sunshine Tour winner’s eagle came when he followed a 300m drive on the sixth with a 90m lob-wedge into the hole.

Another multiple winner on the DP World Tour, George Coetzee, is also making his way back from long-term injury, and he will certainly have a say in where the title goes this week as he shot an eight-under-par 64 on Wednesday.

Young Yurav Premlall also made his presence known with a 66, a score matched by Quintin Wilsnach.

DULLSTROOM (Mpumalanga) – The experienced Louis de Jager has fired rounds of 65 and 67 for 12-under-par in the Vodacom Origins of Golf Highland Gate Mpumalanga event, but he has no more than a one-shot lead after the second round on Saturday.

That’s because fellow veteran Jean Hugo, who has played in more than 450 Sunshine Tour events, has gone 66-67 for a score of 11-under-par heading into the final round.

Kyle de Beer, the leading rookie on tour this season, is one stroke further back on 10-under after shooting a 70 on Saturday, contending strongly in just his 25^th Sunshine Tour event.

De Jager started his round on the 10^th and took a while to really find his range, but birdies on the par-four 16^th and par-five 18^th gave him a boost. His front nine was even better, even though he bogeyed the par-four first hole.

The 37-year-old birdied the par-three third hole and also picked up birdie threes on the sixth and ninth holes, but perhaps his best hole was the par-five fifth, which is more than 600 yards long and plays into the wind, but De Jager eagled it on Saturday.

It will not be an easy night’s sleep though for De Jager going into the final round of the R2 million event because there is a surfeit of quality within four shots of the lead.

Apart from Hugo and De Beer, Luke Brown is enjoying a very solid tournament and is on nine-under-par after rounds of 67 and 68. Jacques Blaauw is enjoying a top-class season, leading the Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy, and is tied for fifth on eight-under after notching a two-under-par 70 on Saturday.

Martin Rohwer, a three-time winner on the Sunshine Tour, and Nikhil Rama, a GolfRSA product who is a rising star in the senior ranks, are also on eight-under.

A trio of Sunshine Ladies Tour golfers made the cut, with Danielle du Toit (69) and Gabrielle Venter (72) tied for 35^th on one-under-par, and Lora Assad tied for 47^th on level-par.

CENTURION – The second round of the KitKat Cash & Carry Pro-Am at Irene Country Club was James Mack’s time to shine as the 25-year-old fired a spectacular 10-under-par 62 on Friday to claim a two-stroke lead in the R2 million Sunshine Tour event.

Mack began the second day two strokes off the lead but birdied the first and second holes to immediately close that deficit. He then birdied four successive holes from the seventh to the 10^th and then also gained a shot on the par-four 12^th. Further birdies on the 15^th, 17^th and 18^th holes sealed his phenomenal round and saw him overtake Martin Rohwer at the top of the leaderboard on 15-under-par.

Rohwer followed up his 66 in the first round with a seven-under-par 65 on Friday, taking him to 13-under. He collected nine birdies but had a double-bogey on the par-four fifth hole.

Mack’s bogey-free round was his lowest ever on tour and represents a fine comeback from missing the cut in the season’s opening event, the FBC Zim Open.

Rohwer birdied the par-five second hole but then made a six on the par-four fifth hole. But the Country Club Johannesburg golfer was then able to ease his way to four successive birdies from the seventh, and, after a birdie on the par-four 14^th he enjoyed a great finish as he birdied the last three holes.

Zimbabwean visitor Kieran Vincent was in third place after shooting a 67 to reach 10-under-par, sharing that spot with Rupert Kaminski, who posted a bogey-free 66.

First-round leaders Gerhard Pepler (75 for four-under) and Leon Vorster slid down the leaderboard on Friday. Pepler stumbled to a 75 and finished the second round on four-under-par, while Vorster shot an 80 and missed the cut on one-over-par.

KEMPTON PARK, Ekurhuleni – Young Kiera Floyd’s game and mentality seemingly improves with every event as she fired a wonderful five-under-par 67 on Thursday to claim the lead after the first round of the Sunshine Ladies Tour’s Absa Ladies Invitational at Serengeti Estates.

Floyd has produced back-to-back top-10 finishes in her last two tournaments and also contended strongly in the Dimension Data Ladies Pro-Am at Fancourt before an 84 in the final round saw her slip down to a tie for 15^th place. The 19-year-old is also playing at her home course at Serengeti and there is certainly a lot of expectation that the prodigy can notch up her breakthrough professional win this week.

She successfully managed that external pressure, and also composed herself brilliantly after an unfortunate double-bogey at the 122m par-three fifth hole, not dropping another shot as she finished with seven birdies in all. Three of those came in her first four holes, before her mishap on the first par-three, and then a birdie on the par-five eighth was followed by three more on the back nine.

“I know there is a lot of expectation on me this week and I know there are a lot of people who want me to do well here, but I put all that to the side. I just played like I had not played the course before, I started like it was a fresh round on a new course this morning,” Floyd said.

“And I was very happy with the way I played. The double-bogey was a bit unlucky because I hit my tee shot into a bunker where there was no sand, and then played a bit of ping-pong over the green.

“But I came back nicely and I am really happy with my performance. Off the tee and my putting were the best parts of my game, I sank a few nice ones, which definitely helps. It was not easy out there, but I gave myself a lot more opportunities to make birdie. But it is just the first round and I need to keep going,” Floyd said.

The 2022 SA Women’s Strokeplay champion is one stroke ahead of fellow South African Casandra Alexander, who provided the sort of birdie-birdie finish to her round that had the spectators recording the action on their cellular phones.

The 24-year-old Alexander’s 68 also included a double-bogey, at the par-five eighth, but she immediately pulled a stroke back by making a birdie at the par-three ninth. She was level-par at the turn, but birdies at the 11^th and 15^th holes, and then her two threes to finish saw Alexander soar up the leaderboard.

In a momentous day in this season’s Sunshine Ladies Tour, every place in the top-five is filled by a South African, breaking the overseas dominance that has been apparent in the previous four events.

Perennial winner Lee-Anne Pace, Tara Griebenow and Stacy Bregman all shot 70s on Thursday to share third place. Another South African, Nicole Garcia, was leading on four-under through 10 holes, but she struggled to a 39 coming home, finishing her round on the front nine, to join a dozen other golfers on level-par 72.