Ken Borland

KITWE – First-round leader MJ Viljoen played another solid round of golf but home favourite Dayne Moore was too great an adversary in the second round of the Mopani Zambia Open at Nkana Golf Club on Friday as he shot a spectacular 64, that included a hole-in-one, to snatch top spot on the leaderboard.

Viljoen followed up his excellent 66 in the first round with a two-under 70 on Friday, but still surrendered a two-stroke lead to Moore, whose 64 was his best ever round on the Sunshine Tour.

The Zambian’s hole-in-one came on the par-three third hole, but Moore produced plenty of superb golf as he went bogey-free and collected six birdies as well.

“Three is such a tough hole and I was just trying to get on to the top level, to be honest,” Moore said. “It was 221 metres to the flag and down off the right, and I hit a high six-iron which just came off exactly how I wanted.

“But the scorer at the back of the green wasn’t looking, so there was no reaction. When I walked up to the green, I actually started looking over the green at first. It’s my third hole-in-one and I got one on the Big Easy Tour at Wingate two years ago.

“But apart from being lucky at the third, my putter worked really well, especially on quite a few clutch par putts. And I hit 15 greens in regulation. I’ve been seeing coach Neil Cheetham and he has completely changed my long game, he has helped me a lot. That’s where I was lacking, because my short game has always been something I could lean on,” Moore said.

Moore leapt up to 10-under-par going into the weekend, and Viljoen was also on that mark after 12 bogey-free holes on Friday that included an eagle on the par-five second. But the par-fours coming in proved his stumbling block as he dropped shots on the 13^th, 14^th and 16^th holes, before birdieing the par-five 17^th to finish on eight-under-par.

Kyle Barker also had an excellent second round, shooting a 68 to claim third spot on six-under-par.

Jacques P. de Villiers and Fredrik From both shot 70s to share fourth place on four-under-par, while Lyle Rowe completed the top six, notching a level-par 70 on Friday for three-under-par.

Jason Roets was sharing second place after the first round with Keegan Thomas, but tumbled down the leaderboard on Friday, having six bogeys in his 76 that saw him finish on level-par.

Thomas suffered even more, struggling to an 80 in the second round, which left him on four-over-par.

SUN CITY – Werner Deyzel holds a one-stroke lead after the second round of the SunBet Challenge hosted by Sun City on Thursday and the Sunshine Tour rookie said he really likes the Gary Player Country Club course – but only when he hits the ball well off the tee.

Deyzel shot a one-under-par 71 on Thursday to go to five-under-par overall, which was enough to claim the lead going into Friday’s final round as the wind picked up around the Pilanesberg.

The 24-year-old graduated from the Blue Label Development Tour this year and on both of the first two days he has had to feel his way into his round. On the first day, he was three-over after his first two holes, making bogey on the first and then a double on the par-five second. Deyzel then played some remarkable golf to post a 68, which left him one stroke behind leader Martin Rohwer.

On Thursday, he began his round on the 10^th and dropped shots on the par-four 11^th and on the par-three 12^th hole. He then birdied the 13^th but bogeyed the 15^th, before consecutive birdies at 16 and 17 were followed by another drop on the 18^th.

Deyzel seemingly had had his fill of this rollercoaster golf as he started the front nine, birdieing the first, second and sixth holes, with just one bogey coming home, on the par-four third.

“If I hit a good tee-shot then I like the course,” Deyzel joked. “But if you don’t hit a good drive, then this course will really punish you. But the Gary Player Country Club is stunning and I definitely enjoy playing here. I don’t know why I’ve started badly both days, but then it’s just been about keeping my head down and coming out the other end.

“I hit the ball very well and my putter was very hot. Most of my bogeys came from poor tee-shots that weren’t in play, and some of those holes I actually scrambled well to make bogey. But if I can be more consistent off the tee, then the way my irons are, and with my putting, I just need to hit the greens and I can make a really low score in the final round,” Deyzel said.

Playing in just his third Sunshine Tour event, Deyzel has the lead going into the final round, albeit a small one. But he doesn’t believe he needs to approach things any differently than he did when excelling on the Blue Label Development Tour.

“I’m extremely happy with how things went last week at Irene [he finished tied-25^th in the KitKat Cash & Carry Pro-Am] and this tournament has been good too. Hopefully tomorrow I can produce another good round, but I will approach it the same as every round. I just have to stick to my game-plan and not get ahead of myself. And I will try to enjoy it,” Deyzel said.

Jonathan Broomhead produced inspired golf on the front nine, with an eagle on the par-five second and two birdies leading him to a 69, which left him tied for second on four-under-par with Lyle Rowe (72).

Rohwer was among six golfers tied for fourth on three-under-par, as he came home in 40 to post a 74.

Tristin Galant also eagled the second and produced some special golf in his 67 to go to three-under, while Yurav Premlall and Jaco Ahlers both fired 68s. Neil Schietekat (69) and Luke Brown (70) are the other golfers tied for fourth.

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.

HARARE – Martin Vorster was on a rock-solid two-under-par for his round after his first seven holes on Friday, but a raucous run around the turn in which he picked up four birdies and then an eagle helped catapult him to the top of the leaderboard after the second round of the FBC Zim Open at Royal Harare Golf Club.

The Mossel Bay representative began his round on the 10^th hole and made another eagle on the par-five sixth hole before parring his way in for a phenomenal 62, his best ever round in his 52^nd Sunshine Tour event. That lifted Vorster to 12-under-par at the halfway mark of the R2.5 million event, one stroke ahead of Darren Fichardt (66) and Michael Hollick (67).

Vorster responded in style to a grungy first round that included four bogeys to offset six birdies. On Friday he made birdies at the 10^th, 12^th and 14^th holes, before his only dropped shot, a four at the par-three 15^th. But the 22-year-old then made sweet music with four straight birdies at 17, 18, one and two, before his eagle at the 475m par-three third.

Veteran Fichardt sounded a warning in the morning about his challenge, firing a six-under 66 that included eight birdies, being joined on 11-under-par by Hollick, who posted a 67 that included a good little run of his own when he birdied four successive holes from the fifth to the eighth.

Anthony Michael also shot a 67 to lie fourth on 10-under-par, while first-round leader Jaco Ahlers slipped back a bit with a 71 that left him on eight-under.

Kieran Vincent was the leading Zimbabwean as his 67 lifted him to six-under-par, alongside South Africans JC Ritchie (69) and Combrinck Smit (70) in the tie for sixth.