GOLF NEWS - David Mofokeng racked up four birdies in the last five holes at Waterkloof Golf Club to join a three-way tie for the lead in the IGT Challenge Tour’s Waterkloof Challenge on Tuesday.
Mofokeng picked up eight shots to post a second round 64 and finish at 12 under par 132 alongside Tristen Strydom and Duane Keun, who posted respective rounds of 66 and 64.
Three off the pace at the start of the day, the 36-year-old Lesotho golfer gained some ground with an eagle at the par five seventh and back-to-back birdies at the eighth and ninth holes. He birdied 11 but bogeyed 12, however, a trio of birdies from the 14th and four at the par five finishing hole put Mofokeng in a great position to break through for a maiden pro win on the country’s premier golf development circuit.
“I’m really pleased to be sharing the lead,” he said. “I kept the bogeys to a minimum and picked up shots at all four long holes, which is key to scoring well at this course.
“I’ve put myself in a position to win a few times this season, but I haven’t yet taken it all the way. For me, the main goal in the final round will be to play my own game against the course and not to get side-tracked by what my opponents are doing.”
Strydom lost last week’s Wingate Challenge in a play-off to Ruan Conradie last week, but successive rounds of 66 has left him in a great position to claim his fifth IGT Challenge Tour title.
The 20-year-old Pretoria native started with back-to-back birdies, but was back to level par after he surrendered shots at three and five. A birdie at the par five seventh, followed by a brace of gains at 10 and 11 moved him to three under and Strydom shot to the top of the pile with eagles at 15 and 18.
“It would be great to win again before I head back to the United States, but I don’t mind how it plays out in the final round, to be honest, just as long as I can finish inside the top five,” said Strydom.
“I’ve been playing Web.com Tour Monday Qualifiers and mini-tours in the USA and I wanted to keep competitive on my break, so to be in contention for two weeks straight is a great result. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll will do enough to make the trophy mine. Most importantly, though, I’ll hit the ground running when I get back to the States.”
Keun from Ladybrandt graduated the IGT Challenge Tour at the end of 2013, but lost his Sunshine Tour card at the end of his rookie season.
Another competitor looking to add to his collection, the GFG Academy golfer is back in familiar territory after he reeled in a trio of birdies from the second and added five more on the back nine to submit the only flawless card on the day.
First round leader James du Preez stayed in touch with a 69 and lags just two off the pace in a tie for third with Dylan Docherty, who racked up five birdies and an eagle on the back nine for a 65.
Texas State University senior Xander Basson shot 68 and Sunshine Ladies Tour campaigner Ivanna Samu fired a 66 to finish a further shot adrift.
Second Round Scores
All competitors RSA unless otherwise specified and amateurs indicated as AMA
132 - Tristen Strydom 66 66, Duane Keun 68 64, David Mofokeng (LSO) 68 64
134 - James du Preez AMA 65 69, Dylan Docherty 69 65
135 - Xander Basson AMA 67 68, Ivanna Samu 69 66
136 - Ruan Conradie 67 69
137 - Jason Roets 69 68, Tokkie van den Berg 67 70
138 - Kyle Barker 72 66, Michael Schutz 71 67
139 - Andrew Williamson AMA 68 71
140 - Rupert Kaminski AMA 69 71
141 - Maritz Wessels 71 70, Estiaan Conradie 71 70, David Nortje AMA 71 70
142 - Andi Dill 72 70, Gareth Anderson AMA 70 72, Louis Albertse AMA 70 72, Paul Boshoff 70 72, Mpho Mafishe 72 70, Wayne Stroebel 69 73
143 - Simon Kruger 73 70, Clinton Grobler 68 75, Eric Park (KOR) 70 73, Pieter Moolman 76 67, Vaughn van Deventer AMA 73 70
144 - Russel Franz 72 72, Justin Turner 72 72, Ruan Korb 73 71, Jadrick Fourie AMA 76 68, Jabulane Mabilane 72 72, Quintin Crause 69 75
145 - Patrick Thompson 75 70, Chase Paton AMA 72 73
146 - Matthew Hands AMA 76 70, Louis Botha 75 71, Estiaan de Jager AMA 76 70
147 - JP Cooper AMA 70 77, Tudor Bismark (ZIM) 73 74, Cameron Gurr AMA 75 72, Wade Jacobs AMA 75 72, Divan Marais 75 72, Andrew Plint AMA 71 76, Ricardo Towell 79 68
149 - Thabi Ngcobo 74 75
150 - Christiaan Pretorius 74 76, Leon Visser AMA 76 74, Jancarel Rossouw AMA 74 76
151 - Jacques Cloete AMA 74 77, Jaco Van Der Merwe AMA 77 74, Jaco Meyer 77 74
Missed the cut:-
152 - NJ van der Walt AMA 77 75, Mohammed Ismail AMA 76 76
153 - Dawid Opperman AMA 78 75, Hendrik Janse van Rensburg 75 78, Arno Pretorius AMA 78 75, Andrej Skrbinsek AMA 73 80
154 - Marcel Scholtz AMA 80 74, Lydon Charnley AMA 78 76, George Wolhuter AMA 76 78, Rudolph van de Venter AMA 79 75
155 - Gary Jutzen AMA 77 78
156 - Stefan Wears-Taylor 81 75
157 - Keagan Martin AMA 77 80
158 - Handre Truter AMA 76 82, Alex Krebs AMA 79 79
159 - Marais Visagie 76 83, Dylan Morton AMA 75 84, Nicol Kromhout AMA 81 78
160 - Tumie Motale 77 83
161 - Thabang Tlou 80 81
167 - Pierre le Roux AMA 85 82
174 - Emmanuel Roodt 86 88
N/R - Duan Nagel AMA 78 N/R, Alwyn Smith AMA 81 N/R
RTD - Divan van der Merwe AMA 80 RTD; Dougie Meijer RTD
ARTICLE: LALI STANDER
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