Ken Borland

Overnight leader Dan Bradbury kept his perch at the top of the Joburg Open on Friday after the second round, but he was being chased hard by a Frenchman and a quartet of South Africans who stormed up the leaderboard at Houghton Golf Club.

Rookie Bradbury, playing on a sponsor’s invite, backed up his extraordinary 63 on the first day by shooting an excellent five-under 66 on Friday, lifting him to 13-under-par overall. But on another stormy day at Houghton Golf Club, which led to lengthy delays, that lead was under severe threat and the 23-year-old Englishman was probably saved by the weather as the chasing pack could not complete their rounds before darkness fell.

France’s 27-year-old former amateur star Romaine Langasque is six-under through 11 holes to roar to 12-under-par overall, just a shot back, but it is young Casey Jarvis who is really thrilling the home crowds as he is on the same score with four holes to play. Starting on the 10^th hole, the 19-year-old from Boksburg has been catapulted into a share of second by a magnificent seven birdies in a row from the 17^th hole to the fifth.

Earlier in the day, Houghton Golf Club was burnt up by Christiaan Bezuidenhout (64) and Danie van Tonder (63), who have multiple local titles between them, and who reached the halfway mark on 10-under-par.

They were joined there by compatriot Jbe Kruger, who shot a 67. England’s Nathan Kimsey (-5) and Finland’s Sami Valimaki (-5) are the other golfers on 10-under and they both have a handful of holes to play.

Bradbury bogeyed the second hole but then went on an amazing run of four birdies and an eagle on his next five holes. He also birdied the 10^th and 11^th holes to go to 15-under, but back-to-back bogeys on the 15^th and 16^th holes did kill his momentum.

Those dropped shots could be crucial as Jarvis, Langasque, Bezuidenhout and Van Tonder all had spotless scorecards.

Losing 50% of their outstanding World Cup second row quartet would be sheer bad luck for the Springboks, especially with the British and Irish Lions having such brilliant lineout forwards as Alun-Wyn Jones, Maro Itoje and Courtney Lawes in their ranks, but forwards coach Deon Davids is hopeful that RG Snyman and Lood de Jager will still be able to feature against the tourists.

While Franco Mostert and Eben Etzebeth are fit and a great combination, Snyman, apart from the bad burns he suffered in the Munster fire-pit incident, had the misfortune to suffer another knee injury last month just when his rehab from a rupture of his ACL ligament was nearing completion, while De Jager suffered a particularly nasty injury when he broke his tibia in December, also damaging his ankle and knee in the process.

“It’s an ongoing process with RG and Lood, they are busy with rehab, and hopefully they can join us in the next couple of weeks to come. All the overseas players will be here on Sunday and they will have a thorough assessment so we can see where they are exactly medically. We will know then if they will take part.

“Obviously the lineouts are going to be key against the Lions, but it doesn’t only end with the locks, the combination of the loose forwards needs to be added in there too. Wyn-Jones and Itoje are world-class, but Lawes is also a very good lineout athlete. It’s going to be an interesting battle because if we have all our locks available, they have proven their worth at the World Cup,” Davids said from Bloemfontein on Wednesday.

The Springbok forwards coach also confirmed that they were keen on having Duane Vermeulen, currently recovering from ankle surgery, in the camp even if just in an off-field capacity.

That Vermeulen is an inspirational presence can be seen by the Bulls pretty much turning into cows in his absence, and the man of the match in the 2019 World Cup final is certainly a talisman for the Springboks as well.