Ockie Strydom showed just why he is a two-time DP World Tour winner on Friday when he eased his way into contention with a second-round eight-under-par 64 in the Jonsson Workwear Open at The Club at Steyn City.
After an opening three-under 69 which left him five strokes off the first-round lead, Strydom got off to a poor start with a bogey on the first hole, but he got things back on track quickly with his first birdie on the third. He made two more ahead of the turn which he reached in two-under 34.
He ended up doing most of his scoring on his homeward nine, with six birdies taking him to 11-under at the halfway mark, two shots off the lead which was held by Germany’s Nick Bachem on 13-under after a second-round six-under 66.
Bachem led by one from France’s Romain Langasque and Sami Valimaki of Finland who carded 64 and 65 respectively. Strydom shared fourth with five other players, including Martin Vorster, who shared the lead after the first round at eight-under. Vorster followed up his superlative start with a steady 69, which included two bogeys after his bogey-free effort to start.
Keeping things in control like that helped Vorster feel confident that his first two rounds might take him into contention on Sunday. “The European Challenge Tour co-sanctioned events we had recently, starting with the Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open where I finished fourth and then the SDC Open where I finished seventh, really gave me that confidence to know that I can compete against these players and that I have the game to win tournaments. I always knew I had the game but I didn’t always believe it, and that definitely gave me that self-belief,” he said.
Hennie O’Kennedy continued his good recent form with a three-under 69 in the second round to be the third South African in the top 10. He was in a share of 10th on 10-under, one behind Strydom and Vorster.
Further down the leaderboard there were some heroics from Shaun Norris to make the cut: He went six-under through the last five holes, including an eagle on the 16th, to make the cut on the number at five-under.
