Ezulwini - Daniel Greene shot a solid 68 at Royal Swazi Golf Club on Thursday, tying things up seven points shy of the lead ahead of the cut at the Investec Royal Swazi Sun Open.
“It’s not far off - just a few birdies and you’re right there. On these greens and with such a short course you can make that in three holes. There are still two days to go, but with this format you could be leading after nine holes,” he said.
Greene’s second round was worth 11 points on the modified stableford scoring system of the tournament, putting him within striking range of Desvonde Botes, who held the 36-hole lead on 29 points.
“I’ve been working very hard in Joburg and it’s nice to see it paying off,” said Greene. “I’ve been hitting a lot of balls, made a bit of a swing change and it seems to be working. So I’ll just keep at it.
“Not much went in for me on the front nine, but then I went on a bit of a run on the back nine. We just need the run to carry on tomorrow.”
Greene is one of the longer hitters on Tour, and the short course and playing format suit his game. “It’s nice to hit gap wedges, sand wedges into most of the greens. It’s not a long course, so you just have to hit the driver well and if a couple of putts go in then you’ll be right on top,” he said.
He was optimistic about his chances, and added: “I’m feeling good - I’ve been playing well over the last couple of weeks and I feel like I’m due for a good finish - so we’ll see what happens.”
Botes had a solid day on the course, making nine birdies without a dropped shot. “I played really nicely today - I hit the ball very well, made a lot of fairways and I think I missed one green the whole day. The greens are a little tricky and bouncy, but I putted well today and I’m happy with my round,” he said.
Just two points shy of Botes, Jake Roos and Christiaan Basson shared second, while Dean Burmester wrapped things up a further two off the pace on 25 points.
Scores (RSA unless otherwise specified):
Please note: These are point scores
29 - Desvonde Botes 11 18
27 - Christiaan Basson 10 17, Jake Roos 11 16
25 - Dean Burmester 11 14
23 - Theunis Spangenberg 10 13
22 - Des Terblanche 20 2, Toto Thimba (Jnr) 12 10, Merrick Bremner 8 14, Charl Coetzee 15 7, Wallie Coetsee 10 12, Daniel Greene 11 11
21 - Neil Schietekat 11 10
20 - Oliver Bekker 4 16, Albert Pistorius 14 6
19 - Tyrone Ferreira 14 5, Brandon Pieters 14 5, Justin Harding 11 8, Ruan de Smidt 8 11
18 - Teboho Sefatsa 11 7, Louis de Jager 11 7
17 - James Kamte 10 7, Andrew Curlewis 7 10, Danie van Tonder 4 13, Ryan Tipping 6 11, Ockie Strydom 13 4
16 - Bryce Easton 17 -1, Andrew Georgiou 6 10, Vaughn Groenewald 12 4, Trevor Fisher Jnr 15 1, Colin Nel 9 7, Jacques Blaauw 12 4
15 - Justin Walters 9 6, Matthew Carvell 7 8, Divan van den Heever 7 8, Titch Moore 8 7
14 - Doug McGuigan -1 15, Allan Versfeld 5 9, Tyrone Mordt 3 11, Mark Murless 6 8
13 - Andre Cruse 8 5, Jaco Ahlers 3 10, Johan du Buisson 4 9, Bruce McDonald (ZIM) 12 1
12 - Adilson Da Silva (BRA) 8 4, PH McIntyre 6 6, Lyle Rowe 0 12
11 - Lindani Ndwandwe 8 3
10 - Tyrone Ryan 10 0, Neil Cheetham (ENG) 4 6, Henk Alberts -1 11, Alan McLean (SCO) 14 -4
8 - Chris Swanepoel 4 4, Ulrich van den Berg 2 6, Omar Sandys 1 7, Prinavin Nelson 2 6
7 - Grant Muller 3 4, Steven Ferreira 13 -6
6 - Alan Michell 3 3, Hendrik Buhrmann 4 2, Steve Basson 2 4
5 - Michiel Bothma -1 6, JG Claassen 2 3
4 - Shaun Norris 5 -1
2 - Nic Henning -3 5, Grant Veenstra 4 -2, Dion Fourie 0 2
1 - Jean Hugo 1 0, Darren Blair 0 1
0 - Dean O'Riley -1 1, Coenie Bester -2 2
-5 - JJ Senekal 0 -5
-13 - Nathan Waghorn -1 -12
“It’s not far off - just a few birdies and you’re right there. On these greens and with such a short course you can make that in three holes. There are still two days to go, but with this format you could be leading after nine holes,” he said.
Greene’s second round was worth 11 points on the modified stableford scoring system of the tournament, putting him within striking range of Desvonde Botes, who held the 36-hole lead on 29 points.
“I’ve been working very hard in Joburg and it’s nice to see it paying off,” said Greene. “I’ve been hitting a lot of balls, made a bit of a swing change and it seems to be working. So I’ll just keep at it.
“Not much went in for me on the front nine, but then I went on a bit of a run on the back nine. We just need the run to carry on tomorrow.”
Greene is one of the longer hitters on Tour, and the short course and playing format suit his game. “It’s nice to hit gap wedges, sand wedges into most of the greens. It’s not a long course, so you just have to hit the driver well and if a couple of putts go in then you’ll be right on top,” he said.
He was optimistic about his chances, and added: “I’m feeling good - I’ve been playing well over the last couple of weeks and I feel like I’m due for a good finish - so we’ll see what happens.”
Botes had a solid day on the course, making nine birdies without a dropped shot. “I played really nicely today - I hit the ball very well, made a lot of fairways and I think I missed one green the whole day. The greens are a little tricky and bouncy, but I putted well today and I’m happy with my round,” he said.
Just two points shy of Botes, Jake Roos and Christiaan Basson shared second, while Dean Burmester wrapped things up a further two off the pace on 25 points.
Scores (RSA unless otherwise specified):
Please note: These are point scores
29 - Desvonde Botes 11 18
27 - Christiaan Basson 10 17, Jake Roos 11 16
25 - Dean Burmester 11 14
23 - Theunis Spangenberg 10 13
22 - Des Terblanche 20 2, Toto Thimba (Jnr) 12 10, Merrick Bremner 8 14, Charl Coetzee 15 7, Wallie Coetsee 10 12, Daniel Greene 11 11
21 - Neil Schietekat 11 10
20 - Oliver Bekker 4 16, Albert Pistorius 14 6
19 - Tyrone Ferreira 14 5, Brandon Pieters 14 5, Justin Harding 11 8, Ruan de Smidt 8 11
18 - Teboho Sefatsa 11 7, Louis de Jager 11 7
17 - James Kamte 10 7, Andrew Curlewis 7 10, Danie van Tonder 4 13, Ryan Tipping 6 11, Ockie Strydom 13 4
16 - Bryce Easton 17 -1, Andrew Georgiou 6 10, Vaughn Groenewald 12 4, Trevor Fisher Jnr 15 1, Colin Nel 9 7, Jacques Blaauw 12 4
15 - Justin Walters 9 6, Matthew Carvell 7 8, Divan van den Heever 7 8, Titch Moore 8 7
14 - Doug McGuigan -1 15, Allan Versfeld 5 9, Tyrone Mordt 3 11, Mark Murless 6 8
13 - Andre Cruse 8 5, Jaco Ahlers 3 10, Johan du Buisson 4 9, Bruce McDonald (ZIM) 12 1
12 - Adilson Da Silva (BRA) 8 4, PH McIntyre 6 6, Lyle Rowe 0 12
11 - Lindani Ndwandwe 8 3
10 - Tyrone Ryan 10 0, Neil Cheetham (ENG) 4 6, Henk Alberts -1 11, Alan McLean (SCO) 14 -4
8 - Chris Swanepoel 4 4, Ulrich van den Berg 2 6, Omar Sandys 1 7, Prinavin Nelson 2 6
7 - Grant Muller 3 4, Steven Ferreira 13 -6
6 - Alan Michell 3 3, Hendrik Buhrmann 4 2, Steve Basson 2 4
5 - Michiel Bothma -1 6, JG Claassen 2 3
4 - Shaun Norris 5 -1
2 - Nic Henning -3 5, Grant Veenstra 4 -2, Dion Fourie 0 2
1 - Jean Hugo 1 0, Darren Blair 0 1
0 - Dean O'Riley -1 1, Coenie Bester -2 2
-5 - JJ Senekal 0 -5
-13 - Nathan Waghorn -1 -12