Van den Berg takes slim lead at Killarney

Veteran campaigner Ulrich van den Berg carded a round of four-under-par 66 to take a one-shot lead in the Betway Big Easy Tour Pla-Off tournament at Killarney Country Club on Thursday.

The weather-delayed pay-off event, scheduled to begin on Tuesday, finally teed off on Thursday after some heavy rains left the course waterlogged and unplayable on Tuesday and Wednesday. As such, what was initially a 54-hole event has now been shortened to a 36-hole spectacle, with the top 30 players on the Order of Merit after this event going on to The Final at The Els Club Copperleaf, next month.

Van den Berg, a multiple time Sunshine Tour winner, produced an eventful round of 66 on the par-70 layout, characterised by seven birdies and three dropped shots.

“I have been hitting a couple more balls than I’m used to,” revealed Van den Berg after his round. “Obviously trying to get ready for next week’s SA Open. And I hit the ball well. I waited patiently and then made three birdies in the last six holes, so it was a patient day.

“I made a couple mistakes but all in all I’m very thrilled with how I played today. The course was really wet but amazingly, the greens were incredible and didn’t show any signs of having been waterlogged. There were a couple of the par-fours on the low-lying areas on the front nine that were a little wetter than most. But, by and large, I was surprised that we could actually get to play.”

England’s Joe Knox shot 67 to trail by a single shot, giving himself a shot at glory. Three birdies and an eagle were accompanied by two bogeys in Knox’s scorecard but that will not bother him much as he is in with a real chance of challenging for a win here this week.

“I have played here a lot of times and got bitten trying to be too aggressive,” Knox said. “I knew today that you just had to hit it to spots and accept that you're going to have some good irons in. So, it was nice to play well today."

This play-off event follows 10 regular-season events after which only the top 50 players on the Order of Merit earned their way into this week’s tournament. From this event, the top 30 players on the rankings will head to Pretoria for The Final.

From there, only the top 12 players on the final points standings will earn their Sunshine Tour cards for next season. The Betway Big Easy Tour is the main feeder circuit to the Sunshine Tour and enjoys the support of legendary South African golfer, Ernie Els, amongst others.

Scores

66 - Ulrich van den Berg

67 - Joe Knox

69 - Warwick Purchase, Luke Mayo, Tyrone Ryan, Eric Wowor, Andrew McLardy, Makhetha Mazibuko

70 - Slade Pickering, Toto Thimba Jnr, Travis Ladner, Ryan Tipping, Philip Geerts, Kirby Coe-Kirkham

71 - Musiwalo Nethunzwi, Christopher Long

72 - Marcel Steyn Scholtz, Andre De Decker, Richard Joubert, Jacquin Hess, Jastice Mashego, Kayle Wykes, Sentanio Minnie

73 - Xander Basson, Ryan van der Klis, David Amm, Thanda Mavundla, Drikus Joubert, Allister de Kock

74 - Paul Boshoff, Louis Liebenberg, Francois Van der Walt, Andrew Williamson, Leon Visser, Jaden Deltel

75 - Nicholaus Frade, Keelan Africa

76 - Tyron Davidowitz, Luke Trocado

77 - Leon Vorster, Matthew Rushton, Vaughn van Deventer