Jaco Prinsloo will take a two-stroke lead into the final round of the 54-hole FNB eSwatini Nkonyeni Challenge, thanks to a second round of two-under 70 which took his tournament total to nine-under-par on Friday.
The second round proved to be a lot tougher than the first for Prinsloo, and starting from the 10th, Prinsloo had his work cut out for him. He made eleven straight pars before making gains on 12, making a birdie there to get the red numbers onto his scorecard. He worked hard for the next four holes to make further gains but all he made were pars. Prinsloo welcomed another birdie onto his scorecard, taking him to two-under and bogey-free for the day. He made par on the last to consolidate a solid round of 70.
It was definitely harder for me today,” admitted Prinsloo after his round. “I just did not hit the ball as close to the hole as I did on the first day, so I didn’t have as many birdie opportunities. “It was good to be bogey-free though because this is not the easiest course. But it’s still a weird place to be with 11 pars in a row. It’s good but not so good. It meant I was still playing solid golf and in control of the ball, and I’m definitely happy to still be in front.”
Chasing hard and just two off the pace, CJ du Plessis was just as impressive on Friday. His four-under 68 ensured that Prinsloo wasn’t too far ahead going into the final round. Du Plessis’ untainted second round was characterised by an eagle on the fifth and birdies on 10 and 15. He will want to replicate this work on Saturday if he is to finally claim a title on the circuit.
Herman Loubser, Jean Hugo, Rhys West, Martin Rohwer and Ricky Hendler are tied third on a tournament total of five-under, four strokes off the lead. At four-under-par for the week, Keagan Thomas and Wynand Dingle complete the top 10 leading players in Kholwane.
