Ken Borland

Spaniard Adrian Otaegui took advantage of the friendlier conditions available at the start of the second round of the Tshwane Open at Pretoria Country Club on Friday, shooting a superb eight-under-par 62 to claim a two-stroke lead at the halfway stage of the co-sanctioned tournament.

Otaegui was in the first three-ball off at 6.40am and he set the tone for his round with birdies on the par-four second and third holes. Five birdies in a row from the eighth saw him surge up the leaderboard and he then made twos at both of the par-threes on the back nine, before bogeying the last to finish on 11-under for the tournament.

“We were first to tee off this morning and the conditions were perfect. I like playing that early and I did really well. I made a lot of birdies and I’m happy with my round. It was a good round from the beginning.

“The greens were perfect, because we opened the course. They were good yesterday, but when you play first the course is in very good condition and you can take advantage,” Otaegui said after his best round on the European Tour.

South African Merrick Bremner is two shots back at nine-under-par after a typically attacking approach brought him a four-under-par 66. He started his round at the 10^th hole but was level-par for the day after a bogey on the first, but four birdies would come in his last six holes to leave him alone in second place.

While joint overnight leader Morten Orum Madsen would come undone with two double-bogeys in his first four holes and successive bogeys around the turn, leaving him six shots off the pace on five-under, David Horsey kept himself in strong contention.

The Englishman started on the 10^th and put a double-bogey on the fourth behind him as he collected two birdies coming in to finish on eight-under, in a tie for third with South Africans Keith Horne and Trevor Fisher Junior, and Italian Edoardo Molinari.

Sunshine Tour Order of Merit leader Andy Sullivan had an icky round of 71 to miss the cut, while it also all went wrong for Lindani Ndwandwe, who posted a promising 68 in the first round before a run of five successive bogeys from the third hole saw him shoot 79 on Friday and also miss the cut.

The in-form Wallie Coetsee had steadily climbed the leaderboard with four birdies as he stood on the 18^th tee tied with Bremner on nine-under, but then suffered a major blow as his tee-shot found one of the numerous bunkers on a hole that is usually a par-five but is a par-four in this tournament.

The lapse led to a double-bogey which pushed Coetsee back down to seven-under, in a tie for seventh with fellow South Africans Dean Burmester and George Coetzee.

Conditions were definitely trickier on the second day at Pretoria Country Club, with sunny and warm conditions speeding up the greens and a capricious breeze making club selection tricky.

“I found the wind quite tricky. It was really swirling in completely opposite directions and I got a lot of clubs wrong compared to yesterday. You’re trying to make birdies with wedges in your hand and you’re hitting it five or 10 metres short because the wind changes on you. That can get quite frustrating. I think the wind was the biggest factor in why the scores weren’t that low,” Horne said after his 67.

Otaegui, who learnt the game at the same Real Golf Club de San Sebastian as former Ryder Cup captain Jose-Maria Olazabal, who is also his mentor, said Pretoria Country Club suited him.

“I like these type of courses that are old-style and have trees, so that you have to place the ball. You don’t need to hit it far, but rather put it in a place where you can attack the pins. Even if I missed a few tee shots today I hit some good irons and gave myself birdie chances,” the 22-year-old said.

He may be on top of the leaderboard at the moment, but Otaegui is not getting ahead of himself as he eyes his first top-three finish on the European Tour.

“I’m happy, but we still have a lot of way to go. It’s just 50% of the tournament and so many things can happen. I just have to be patient tomorrow. Let’s see if I’ve learnt something from these last two rounds,” he said.

Molinari, a two-time European Tour winner and a former Ryder Cup player, was slow out of the gate as he started on the 10^th, only making his first birdie on the 18^th hole. But he also picked up shots on the first and on his last two holes to put himself amongst the leaders.

Trevor Fisher Junior played consistent precision golf as he motored to victory by five shots in the Africa Open at East London Golf Club on Sunday, shooting a superb eight-under-par 64 in the final round.

Overnight leader Matt Ford was unable to keep up with a dazzling Trevor Fisher Junior, who shot a superb nine-under-par 63, on the third day of the Africa Open at East London Golf Club on Saturday.

Fisher Junior’s magnificent round, which featured seven birdies and an eagle, saw him finish the penultimate round on 16-under-par.

Ford posted a solid three-under-par 69 to go into the final round on 14-under, while the Englishman was joined in contention for the co-sanctioned title by South African Jaco van Zyl, who shot a 68 and is on 12-under-par.

The other golfers in the top six after the second round faded, with John Parry shooting a 69 to be 10-under, Mark Tullo posting a 70 to be on nine-under and South African Erik van Rooyen slipped all the way back to six-under after a 74.

Fisher Junior tied for third in the 2012 Joburg Open and for fourth in the 2010 Africa Open, and has five other top-10 finishes in co-sanctioned events, but he says he has learnt how to win after he overtook George Coetzee to win the Investec Cup last year and claim the R3.5 million bonus pool.

“You learn from every experience, but the Investec Cup was invaluable and I now know how to handle the pressure of trying to win on the final day. It’s about managing your game, where to be and where not to be. But you also have to hit the ball well and putt well,” Fisher Junior said.

While Fisher Junior was rolling in putts from everywhere – including an extraordinary 65-foot effort for birdie on the 13^th – his compatriot, Van Zyl, was nonplussed by the greens. Despite playing beautifully from tee to green, he could only collect three birdies and an eagle.

“I got off to a flying start, but then I battled to see the lines from 13 on. I was rolling the ball nicely and I gave myself lots of opportunities, but I was always wondering about the lines. Anyway, I’m really enjoying being in the mix,” Van Zyl said.

Van Zyl’s only bogey came on the ninth hole when he missed a short putt for par, while Ford made his mistakes on the par-four eighth and 13^th holes.

Ford was three-under-par for his round and comfortably holding on to the lead when he stepped on to the eighth tee and took on the short dogleg to the right. The Englishman put his second into the bunker, went over the green with his third, was short of the putting surface with his fourth, on for five and then putted for double-bogey.

But the man who finally won his European Tour card on his 10^th visit to Qualifying School is still on track for a maiden title.

“It was a roller-coaster round, there were quite a few emotions and I’m a bit drained now,” Ford said after his round. “I would have taken three-under at the beginning of the round and there were more good shots than bad. Like a swan, it might look calm on the outside, but the feet are going mad underneath. But I try not to get too involved in the emotional side because you can’t play good golf with too much emotion,” Ford said.

Fisher Junior has led before going into the final round of a co-sanctioned event but failed to seal the deal, but he said he now has a fresh perspective and golf is no longer a daily grind for the 35-year-old.

“Whatever happens tomorrow, I’m going to have a smile on my face. When you’re younger, you tend to try too hard, but now that I’m more mature I realise that it’s just a game and I’m lucky to be playing it. Having kids also gives you a whole new perspective, and I’m just going to enjoy the view tomorrow,” Fisher Junior said.

Ford, who would have been delivering mail as a postman if he hadn’t finally gained his tour card last November, is similarly philosophical heading into the biggest day of his career.

“Tomorrow is going to be a lot of learning. What I’ve learnt today will hopefully put me in good stead for the final round,” the mellow 36-year-old said.

http://www.citizen.co.za/339956/ford-prepares-to-face-biggest-day-of-his-life/

One would have thought the sodden conditions at King’s Park would have put a damper on the Cell C Sharks’ ambitions but they pulled off a superb bonus-point 29-12 win over the Emirates Lions in their Vodacom SuperRugby match in Durban on Saturday night.

There was a torrential downpour about an hour before kickoff and the rain was falling steadily until the second half, so ball-in-hand, positive rugby was never on the cards, but a magnificent forward display by the Sharks and the brilliant generalship of Pat Lambie at flyhalf allowed the Sharks to score four tries.

The foundation for their success was laid in the scrums.

The Lions’ scrum was one of the best in the competition last year, but the first-choice front row of Van der Merwe, Coetzee and Redelinghuys was strangely on the bench, and the Du Plessis brothers, Jannie and Bismarck, with the able assistance of Dale Chadwick at loosehead, won all the early battles in that set-piece and the Sharks’ first points as well as their second try both came from huge shoves by the pack.

The Lions were on the board first through a Marnitz Boshoff penalty in the third minute, but five minutes later, a stupendous scrum by the Sharks allowed Lambie to slot an angled penalty from between the 10m and halfway lines, a great effort considering the flooded field beneath his feet.

The Sharks’ rolling maul also had the Lions’ defence in disarray and it earned a penalty for the home side in the 21^st minute, which Lambie pushed wide of the poles.

But the flyhalf’s liberal use of the crosskick also had the Lions scrambling and the first try came when Lambie’s kick to the left was won back by Lwazi Mvovo and the Springbok incumbent then spotted acres of space on the left and put in a pinpoint kick into the safe hands of Odwa Ndungane, who used the slippery surface to slide over the line.

The Sharks, in control up front and with a flyhalf who had clearly changed his game plan to suit the conditions, were obviously the best team in the first half and they made that dominance count with a second try in the 30^th minute.

Strong forward drives by flank Renaldo Bothma  and debutant lock Lubabalo ‘Giant’ Mtyanda earned the Sharks a five-metre scrum. A massive shove made a try inevitable, but scrumhalf Cobus Reinach almost butchered the opportunity by not passing, before eventually reaching out at full-stretch to just dot the ball down on the line.

Boshoff kicked a second penalty for the Lions three minutes later, but the Sharks were so dominant that it didn’t seem to matter as they went into halftime 15-6 up.

Lions coach Johan Ackermann changed his entire front row early in the second half, and there was a noticeable improvement in the visitors’ performance, so one has to ask why they were on the bench in the first place, especially props Schalk van der Merwe and Julian Redelinghuys.

And so the Lions dominated the third quarter, allowing Boshoff to kick two more penalties and close the gap to 12-15.

But the Sharks, with Matt Stevens doing well at tighthead when he replaced the excellent Jannie du Plessis, regained the early dominance they had enjoyed at scrum-time and Ndungane, once again sharp when it came to contesting the ball in the air, forced the Lions to concede a lineout inside their 22 after another precise Lambie cross-kick.

Pieter-Steph du Toit, the best lineout jumper on the night, claimed the ball and the Sharks’ rolling maul bulldozed forward, flank Marcell Coetzee scoring the try.

Lambie’s conversion made it 22-12 and, with Lions captain and breakaway eighthman Warren Whiteley sent off the field for slapping the ball out of the hands of the halfback at a ruck, the Sharks rumbled over for another rolling-maul try by Coetzee to seal a convincing win.

The try was converted by Lambie, who had done so much in ensuring the dominance of the forwards was reflected on the scoreboard. He was ably assisted by halfback partner Reinach, and the Lions pairing of Boshoff and Ross Cronje, both Springbok hopefuls, were thoroughly outplayed by Lambie and Reinach.

The superb displays of the Du Plessis brothers, Du Toit, Reinach and Lambie will surely not go unnoticed by Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer with the World Cup in the northern hemisphere later this year.

Scorers

Sharks – Tries: Odwa Ndungane, Cobus Reinach, Marcell Coetzee (2). Conversions: Pat Lambie (3). Penalty: Lambie.

Lions – Penalties: Marnitz Boshoff (4).