Cameron Moralee moved another step closer to a maiden IGT Challenge Tour title when he stretched his overnight lead in the third Race to Q-School with another low round on Tuesday.
The 20-year-old Dainfern amateur has racked up top five finishes in his three starts on the country’s premier golf development circuit. On a day of low scoring, he put himself in the perfect position to claim that first victory with a seven-under-par 65 at Ruimsig Country Club.
Having set the first round target at six under, Moralee produced seven birdies and an eagle at the par five fourth on day two to move to 13 under. He will now start the final push on Wednesday with a three-shot lead over Italy’s Philip Geerts and Ruan Groenewald from Mpumalanga.
Groenewald earned the low round honours with a blistering 64, while Geerts returned a 66 that was matched by Ruan Korb, Keanu Pestana and Sunshine Ladies Tour rookie Ivanna Samu, who was flawless around her home course.
Moralee said consistency has been the key to his performance at Ruimsig.
‘My game has been very consistent from tee to green this week and you need to do that around this golf course,’ said Moralee.
‘It’s is all about hitting the ball in the right spots off the tee and into the greens. I managed to do that, and a few more putts dropped today. I still missed at least five putts inside eight feet, which was frustrating. I played similarly in the first round, but the ball striking was just a little better today.
‘The eagle was very nice. I hit two-iron down the fairway and it went a bit straighter than I hoped for. I had 250 metres to the flag into a right to left wind. I hit three-wood to 20 feet behind the flag and I managed to drain the putt. It always gives you confidence when you can pick up an eagle, especially after missing a two-footer for par at the second hole.’
So far this season, four amateurs – Louis Albertse, Rupert Kaminski, Leon Visser and last week’s Race to Q-School Pecanwood winner Theunie Bezuidenhout – have outclassed the professionals on the IGT Challenge Tour and Moralee would love to push the tally to five.
However, the Dainfern golfer is taking nothing for granted.
‘It’s a decent lead, but I will need to make a solid start and keep it going,’ Moralee said. ‘If someone goes on a tear like Ruan did today, three shots might not hold up.
‘Even though we are playing off the back tips, there were a couple of 66s and 67s, so another low round is definitely there for the taking. We’re getting to the business end of the year, so all the guys are hungry to bag a win before the season wraps up. I don’t think you can afford to get complacent, even with a pretty decent cushion.’
Picture of Moralee in action on Tuesday courtesy of CJ du Plooy
Second Round Scores
All competitors SA unless otherwise specified and amateurs are indicated as AMA:
131 – Cameron Moralee AMA 66 65
134 – Philip Geerts (ITA) 68 66, Ruan Groenewald AMA 70 64
135 – Ruan Korb 69 66
136 – Keanu Pestana AMA 70 66
137 – Clinton Grobler 70 67
138 – Bryce Myburgh 68 70, Anton Haig 70 68, Estiaan Conradie 71 67
139 – Ivanna Samu 73 66, Theunis Bezuidenhout AMA 71 68, Eric Nel AMA 71 68
140 – Lejan Lewthwaite 71 69, Ruan Conradie 72 68
141 – Michael Schutz 69 72, Paul Boshoff 72 69, Conway Kunneke 70 71
142 – Ryan Wingrove AMA 72 70, Andre Pistorius AMA 72 70, Andre Bezuidenhout AMA 71 71
143 – Adam Botha AMA 72 71, Jack Rex Duthie 70 73, Luke Brown AMA 72 71
144 – Deon Bredenkamp 69 75, Albert Venter 75 69, Louis Albertse AMA 76 68, Gian Scarola 72 72
145 – Maritz Wessels 70 75, Phillip Kruse AMA 75 70, Dino Di Carlo AMA 74 71, Jason Gilliver AMA 73 72
146 – Justin Turner 75 71, Mpho Mafishe 74 72, Michael Steyn 76 70, Juan Langeveld 73 73, Tertius van den Berg 74 72, Ricardo Towell 72 74, Scott Chambers AMA 75 71
147 – John McClean (NIR) 74 73, Thabi Ngcobo 75 72, Leon Visser AMA 77 70, Romano Saincic 75 72
148 – Shaun van Tonder 78 70, Luke Kelly 79 69
149 – Francesca Cuturi 77 72, WM Coetzee AMA 77 72, Eric Park (KOR) 74 75, Matthew Vogel 75 74, Haydn Driver AMA 75 74
150 – Vian van Blerk AMA 77 73, Matthew Rossouw AMA 78 72, Adrian Brabson AMA 78 72, Marco de Beer 73 77, Duan Nagel AMA 76 74
Missed the cut:
151 – Divan Marais 76 75, Byron Sampson AMA 79 72, Michael Dreyer 81 70, Dean du Plessis AMA 76 75
152 – Zillan du Pisani AMA 76 76
155 – Marc de Jager AMA (ENG) 78 77, Jancarel Rossouw AMA 80 75, Malachi Schulz AMA 76 79
156 – Norman Beggs 84 72
157 – Paulo Serrao AMA (POR) 80 77
158 – Songezo Sonamzi 81 77
159 – Mohammed Ismail AMA 79 80, Jonathan George AMA 81 78, Gareth Anderson AMA 81 78
161 – Gary Jutzen AMA 86 75
167 – Dylan van Heerden AMA 85 82
205 – Michael Jacobs AMA 107 98