Anton Haig will have former Sunshine Tour player Maritz Wessels and Pretoria amateur Arno Pretorius in close pursuit when he bids for a fourth IGT Challenge Tour victory on Wednesday.
The 29-year-old Nelspruit golfer clung to his overnight lead in Tuesday’s second round, but a one-over-par 72 saw him slip to three under 137 at Killarney Country Club. He will start the final round with a slender one-shot lead over the chasing duo.
Wessels, from The Copperleaf Els Club, also signed for 72, but Pretorius – who lagged six off the pace at the start of the round – fired a superb three-under-par 67 in windy conditions to share the low round honours with Ivanna Samu.
Samu racked up five birdies to vault from joint 27 to ninth at one over 141. The 18-year-old former No 1-ranked amateur played the IGT Challenge Tour full-time last year to prepare for her rookie debut on the 2017 Sunshine Ladies Tour.
Pretorius offset three bogeys with a trio of birdies at five, six and seven and a pair of birdies on the back nine.
The 25-year-old Pretoria Country Club golfer will have two fierce and seasoned campaigners for company over the last 18 holes, but he was pleased to have a shot at breaking his duck on the country’s premier golf development circuit,
‘It’s always nice to be in one of the leading groups, because that’s what we all play for,’ he said. ‘To be in this position and to learn to handle the pressure is what it’s all about.
‘I don’t know much about Maritz, but I played two rounds with Anton at the final stage of the Sunshine Tour’s Qualifying School, so at least I got that out of the way. I will have to stay in the zone and not let what they do affect me if I want to take this to the finish line.’
Pretorius began campaigning on the IGT Challenge Tour four years ago while a student at the University of Pretoria. He graduated with a BSc Sport Science degree at the end of 2013 and took up a position at Distinctive Choice.
‘It’s my mom’s brokerage company and the advantage of working for my mom is that she allows me time off to compete on the IGT Challenge Tour in pursuit of a pro golf career,’ Pretorius joked.
‘I enjoy playing the IGT Challenge Tour because we have an event almost every week of the year and all the events are local, which cuts down on costs. It’s a competitive circuit and the standard is high.
‘I especially like it when the Sunshine Tour players compete on our circuit. Competing against them puts your game in perspective and it helps you to build experience.’
Pretorius said he was surprised to see he was only a shot behind Haig at the end of day two. ‘The scores were higher but I expected to be three or four shots behind,’ he said. ‘The set-up was tougher and the wind pumped, but I guess I played pretty well.
‘The run of birdies from the fifth definitely helped. I caught the bunker at five, but I hit a great trap shot with a lot of spin to three feet and holed the birdie putt. At six and seven I boxed 10-foot uphill that kept me in touch with Anton. Hopefully the putter stays hot on Wednesday.’
Wessels overcame three bogeys in succession after the turn, with three birdies in his last four holes.
‘I hit three bad tee-shots, but I was able to reboot,’ he said. ‘The birdies at 15, 17 and 18 got me a spot in the final group. Now I just need to make the most of this opportunity.’
Picture of Pretorious courtesy of CJ du Plooy
Second Round Scores
All competitors SA unless otherwise specified and amateurs indicated as AMA
137 – Anton Haig 65 72
138 – Arno Pretorius AMA 71 67, Maritz Wessels 68 70
139 – Pieter Moolman 67 72, Simon Kruger 70 69
140 – Eric Nel AMA 70 70, Bennie van der Merwe 69 71, Duane Keun 71 69
141 – Ivanna Samu 74 67
142 – Clinton Grobler 72 70, Basil Wright 71 71, CJ Levey 71 71
143 – Michael Dreyer 70 73, Divan Marais 71 72, Warrick Druian 70 73
144 – Quintin Crause 70 74, Bryce Myburgh 74 70, Jack Duthie 71 73, Conway Kunneke 74 70
145 – Ruan Korb 72 73, Ruhan van Dijk AMA 72 73
146 – Mpho Mafishe 69 77
147 – Tristan Barnard AMA 70 77, Tyron Mc Comb 75 72, Shaun van Tonder 76 71, Juan Langeveld 73 74
148 – Brendan Britten (NAM) 73 75, Matthew Vogel 76 72
149 – Thabang Simon 77 72, Thabi Ngcobo 75 74, Lincon Cele 76 73, Francesca Cuturi 74 75
150 – David Mofokeng 73 77, Albert Visser 78 72
151 – Paul Rodrigues AMA 74 77, Duan Nagel AMA 77 74, Aneel Kallan AMA 78 73
152 – Gary Daoust (BEL) 77 75, Bradley van Biljon AMA 73 79, Tudor Bismark (ZIM) 72 80, Kyle Barker 77 75
153 – NJ van der Walt AMA 76 77, Jeff Hopkins (IRE) 78 75
155 – Songezo Sonamzi 77 78, JP Schmidt AMA 74 81, Vaughn Van Deventer AMA 76 79, Ricardo Towell 78 77