Van Zyl’s 66 helps him to the summit ahead of Big Easy final round

Andre Van Zyl weaved together a brilliant six-under-par 66 on day two of the Betway Big Easy Tour’s ninth event, getting his overall total to 10-under while pulling a shot clear of the field at Krugersdorp Golf Club.

Wednesday’s second round produced some exciting golf, with players jostling for positions ahead of Thursday’s final round. Among those players was Van Zyl, who seemed to have found something he liked around this parkland layout.

Following a solid start of four-under 68, Van Zyl showed glimpses of a brilliant player he is on Wednesday, rolling in putts as if it were nothing. He made a total of nine birdies, a double-bogey and a drop en route to his 66.

"I was very good tee to green,” said Van Zyl. “I just made two stupid errors on eight and nine (his 17th and final holes of the round). On eight I hit a three-wood where I should have hit an iron off that tee. It was a good swing but I just hit it through the fairways and behind some trees. Then I chipped out and the ball spun behind the greens and I three-putted for the double.

"So, I lost a bit of concentration on the last two holes. Other than that, I hit the ball extremely well; found many fairways and I hit them very close. I putted well for a change. A lot of positives from the round and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Van Zyl is fully aware of the chasing pack, led by the in-form Jacques Van Der Merwe whose 68 in round two catapulted him to second on the leaderboard on a tournament total of nine-under.

“I like the course, it suits my eye,” Van Zyl noted. “I’ve been hitting the ball well but just can’t score, so for a change, things are going my way. Golf is coming easy to me at the moment so I’m looking forward to tomorrow. It’s going to be a challenge but I can’t wait.”

With two victories already this term, Van der Merwe is feeling quite confident of mounting a serious challenge on Thursday.

“I’m definitely hoping for my third win this year,” declared Van der Merwe. “I’m feeling very confident this week, so, good luck to the other guys as well.”

This ninth event of the season is the last tournament of the year before the Christmas break. The Betway Big Easy Tour is the Sunshine Tour’s feeder circuit and enjoys the support of the legendary Ernie Els, among other patrons.

Scores

134 - Andre Van Zyl 68 66

135 - Jacques Van der Merwe 67 68

136 - Therion Nel 70 66

138 - Wandre Snyman 71 67

139 - Vaughn van Deventer 67 72, Dillon Germshuys 67 72, Keagan Crosbie 69 70

140 - Joe Sullivan 67 73, Rigardt Albertse 73 67

141 - Andre De Decker 70 71, LB Boshoff 72 69, Kian Rose 72 69

142 - Romano Saincic 74 68, Travis Ladner 70 72, Kyle Kistensamy 74 68, Liam Ross 73 69

143 - Joshua Koekemoer 71 72, Jaden Deltel 71 72, Oliver Goldhill 70 73

144 - Tiger Adams 72 72, Matt Millar 70 74, Jake Bolton 74 70, Travis Procter 72 72, Philip Geerts 71 73, Ricco Motsa 71 73, Lwazi Gqira 69 75

145 - Hannes Strooh 69 76, Brandon Gildenhuys 72 73, Adam Breen 70 75, Louis Liebenberg 73 72, Brandon Pieters 72 73

Missed the cut

146 - Austin Cherichella 76 70, Tristan Leonard 75 71, Shaunak Rama 76 70, Steven Le Roux 73 73, Kian Coetzer 68 78, Tiago Jorge Swart 72 74, Hayden Garcia 77 69, John Bele 71 75

147 - Matthew Rushton 75 72

148 - Regan Steyn 73 75, Matthew Dennis 74 74

149 - Jason Froneman 77 72, Matt Saulez 72 77

150 - Thabang Simon 73 77, Jonathan Ackerman 74 76

151 - Shaydon Johnson 76 75, Alphius Kelapile 78 73, Khanya Mkhize 75 76, Reece Mc Kain 77 74, Shaheed Patel 76 75

152 - Leon Visser 76 76, Christiaan Pretorius 80 72, Joshua Van der Wath 79 73

154 - Slenda Sithebe 77 77

155 - Lyle Pedro 79 76

156 - Miles Gray 73 83

157 - Chandler Shaw 83 74

159 - Brandon-Jude Rennie 79 80, Mark Maart 77 82, Allister de Kock 79 80

173 - Phumlani Maluka 89 84

WDN - Drikus Joubert WDN