Matteo Manassero struck gold on the fairways of Glendower Golf Club and stunned the Jonsson Workwear Open field with a magnificent 11-under-par 61 to earn himself a one-stroke lead heading into the weekend of this Sunshine Tour and DP World Tour event.
Manassero responded to a perfect day primed for something special as he went out in 28 on the back nine – including two eagles – and then came home in 33 with not a single bogey on his card for the lowest round of his professional career, earning him the lead on 15-under par.
“It was fun. It was one of those days when golf gives you a lot more than you deserve,” he said of one of the lowest rounds ever posted on the venerable Glendower layout, although not an official course record because of preferred lies.
“It’s amazing and to do it on this golf course which is one of the main ones in South Africa is really special,” he said.
His nearest challenger is South Africa’s Oliver Bekker on 14-under following a second consecutive 65 and he’s followed by Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin (64) and the Spanish duo of Angel Hidalgo (64) and Ivan Cantero (67) on 13-under.
But Friday belonged to Manassero, who admitted that at one point he started to think about the magical 59.
“Yes, I definitely did. I was trying to give myself a chance. I had two birdie chances – one was really close but it was a tricky putt. You can’t get everything. But I did think about 59 and the fact that I even thought about it means a lot. I’ve never even come close to that number, so it was fantastic. It was a perfect round.”
The confidence this round has brought him as he’s been on his well-publicised journey back onto the DP World Tour cannot be underestimated.
“The fact that I managed to get back on the DP World Tour already shows that I did a lot of good work but I don’t want to look too much into the past. I get confidence for myself out of what I’ve done to get back onto the DP World Tour but that’s about it. We look ahead, and then we have days like these – hopefully more than just once in a lifetime. But we also have bad days so we need to stay focused on getting better. Whatever tour you’re playing, it’s never easy. The fact that I’m back here makes me proud. But I want to look ahead now and get better.”
Behind him, Bekker foresees a birdie-packed weekend.
“If you look at the scores so far, 15-under-par through two rounds is leading so there are plenty of birdies out there. You need to keep pushing. You can’t play too safe,” said the South African.
SCORES (incomplete)
-15 - Matteo Manassero 68 61
-14 - Oliver Bekker 65 65
-13 - Tom McKibbin 67 64, Angel Hidalgo 67 64, Ivan Cantero 64 67
-12 - Shaun Norris 66 66, Jordan Smith 66 66
-11 - Casey Jarvis 67 66, Ugo Coussaud 68 65, Niklas Norgaard 67 66
-10 - Benjamin Follett-Smith 68 66, Jason Scrivener 68 66, Louis de Jager 65 69, Sam Bairstow 67 67, Jacques Kruyswijk 66 68, Hurly Long 68 66
-9 - Thriston Lawrence 65 70, Andrea Pavan 68 67, Freddy Schott 71 64, Connor Syme 68 67, Keenan Davidse 64 71, Ewen Ferguson 70 65, Guxin Chen 71 64
-8 - Daniel van Tonder 68 68, Joel Girrbach 70 66, Musiwalo Nethunzwi 70 66, Romain Langasque 67 69, Robin Williams 66 70, Jaco Ahlers 70 66, Thomas Aiken 69 67, Alexander Levy 67 69, Jeong Weon Ko 68 68
-7 - Luca Filippi 72 65, Oliver Wilson 69 68, Sebastian Friedrichsen 69 68, Paul Waring 67 70, Lorenzo Scalise 70 67, Matthias Schwab 69 68, Darius van Driel 68 69, JC Ritchie 69 68, Andy Sullivan 70 67, Santiago Tarrio 67 70, Clement Sordet 69 68
-6 - Nacho Elvira 69 69, Albert Venter 71 67, Johannes Veerman 68 70, Jovan Rebula 70 68, Ashun Wu 70 68, Ryan Van Velzen 68 70, Joost Luiten 70 68, Jaco Van Zyl 69 69, Gunner Wiebe 68 70, Callum Mowat 70 68
-5 - Julien Guerrier 68 71, Jordan Gumberg 69 70, Wynand Dingle 70 69, Ricardo Gouveia 68 71, Lyle Rowe 68 71, Aaron Cockerill 69 70, Matthew Baldwin 70 69, Dylan Frittelli 71 68, Jamie Donaldson 68 71, Hennie du Plessis 69 70, Francesco Laporta 72 67
-4 - Oliver Hundeboll 71 69, JJ Senekal 70 70, Deon Germishuys 72 68, Hennie Otto 72 68, Karabo Mokoena 69 71, Will Enefer 69 71, Kyle McClatchie 69 71, Rupert Kaminski 75 65, Daniel Brown 70 70, Jesper Svensson 71 69, MJ Viljoen 69 71, Jean Hugo 71 69, Matthew Spacey 72 68
Visit www.sunshinetour.com for final scores
Comments