Wilco Nienaber signed for his second five-under-par 67 in a row on Friday to play himself into a three-way share of a three-stroke lead heading into the weekend of the Challenge Tour’s Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge.
Nienaber carded four birdies and two bogeys on his front nine to make the turn two-under-par for his day, before firing a bogey-free back nine that featured birdies on all three par-fives to leave him 10-under-par after the first two rounds.
The 24-year-old, who led the DP World Tour in average driving distance last year, has been pleased with his driving so far this week and cited the importance of staying in play around the tight fairways.
“I’m really good off the tee, and this week it’s been a strength,” he said. “The driver goes far and quite straight as well. With that, it is nice knowing there are some holes where hitting an iron or even five wood or hybrid is not a problem.
“It’s nice to be in this position. It’s cliched, but I’m just going to see what I can do on every hole. If I get it right, I’m pretty sure I’ll be close on Sunday.”
Joint-leader Wil Besseling of the Nethewrlands carded four birdies in a bogey-free front nine to join Nienaber at 10- under, a score he maintained after shooting level-par on the back.
The 19-year-old Jeff Guan fired five birdies and a pair of eagles to post a seven-under round of 65 and claim the low round of day two. The Australian is playing his third event on the Challenge Tour.
Luke Jerling had a second-round of level-par 72 to stay at five-under, and in a share of ninth – still very much in contention. JJ Senekal had a three-under 69 in the second round to move to three-under through 36 holes in a share of 28th, together with Zimbabwe’s Benjamin Follett-Smith. Dylan Naidoo was on two-under in a share of 37th after a one-over 73.
Deon Germishuys, Oliver Bekker, Louis Albertse, Bryce Easton, Justin Walters, Albert Venter and Rupert Kaminski all missed the cut, while Dylan Mostert withdrew during the second round.
