Casey Jarvis launched a furious assault on the top of the leaderboard on Friday as he made seven birdies in a row before darkness halted play in the second round of the Joburg Open, co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour and the DP World Tour at Houghton Golf Club.
Jarvis, a former South African number one in the amateur ranks, still has four holes to play, and at eight-under through 14 holes, has moved to 12-under-par for the tournament. That’s just one shot off the pace set by first-round leader Dan Bradbury of England, who added a five-under 66 to his opening 63 to be one clear at 13-under.
It was a quiet start to the round for Jarvis, who started on the 10th, and was unable to make birdie on that par-five. He made birdie on 11 and then it was pars all the way to the 17th, where he began his remarkable run: He picked up a shot on every hole up to the fifth, and he was busy on the sixth when the siren sounded to stop play. He will resume his round at 6.30am on Saturday.
He was in a share of second with France’s Romain Langasque, who was six-under through 11 with an eagle and four birdies. They were a shot clear of Nathan Kimsey of England and Finland’s Sami Valimaki, who were on five-under through 14 and 13 respectively. In a share of fourth with those two were South African favourites Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Daniel van Tonder and Jbe’ Kruger. South African Open champions Bezuidenhout and Van Tonder were superb, neither dropping a shot on their way to seven-under and eight-under, and Kruger made just one bogey as he carded a four-under 67.
The experienced Bezuidenhout will be a definite threat on 10-under. “I did a solid job in the second round,” Bezuidenhout said after his 64. “I knew I needed to at least get to 10-under-par to give myself a chance. I’ve played some pretty nice golf over the last two days. I made a putter change after my first round and it was nice to see some putts going in. Hopefully I can get off to a fast start in the third round. On this golf course you need to keep the ball in play. If you do that you have lots of chances for birdies. That will be my plan for the weekend.”
Van Tonder was also thrilled with his putting after a 63 which didn’t equal the course record because of placing following the storm that also caused a suspension of the first round.
“The greens are nice and quick and I managed to roll a few in. I’ve been playing well the last seven or eight months and haven’t been getting the scores. It’s been frustrating, so I’m glad to finally make putts and put a low score down. I’m being as aggressive as I can be on this golf course. I like these greens and I’ve been reading them well.”
Kruger had his ball striking to thank for him being in contention on a day when his putter wasn’t as hot as those around him.
“I’m 100% pleased with my golf, but not so much with my putting. My ball striking has been very good and I hit it close all day. But it felt like I didn’t make any putts. I’ve missed a whole bunch of putts inside 10 feet over the past two days. So to miss that many and still be 10-under means I must be hitting the ball well.”
Behind them, Louis de Jager on nine-under for the tournament through 11, and Wilco Nienaber and Jacques Kruyswijk on seven-under through 1o and 11 respectively are in a good position. So too is defending champion Thriston Lawrence, who is on six-under through 11.
