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Becker joins PH McIntyre at the top of the leaderboard on 14-under par.
“I’ve been scoring very well. If I’ve got chances to make birdie I seem to take them. I made a big putt on the last hole, about a 20-footer, to tie for the lead,” he said.
VIDEO: Telkom PGA Pro-Am Day 2 highlights
The Stellenbosch local started the round with an eagle at 10, but wobbled after making bogeys at 11 and 15 and slipped back to level-par for the day.
His favourite holes at Centurion will surely be 16, 17 and 18, which have given up six birdies to him over the first two rounds.
Those three holes helped him steady out the round.
“The first holes were frustrating, because I hit it close and made the putt for eagle on the 10th, but then three-putted the next. I birdied the last three of the nine and that got me going again, but it wasn’t looking too good at one stage,” he said.
McIntyre played in the morning field and set the clubhouse lead early in the day. He’s excited for the new season after such a promising start.
“With these two rounds so far there’s a lot of confidence building and I’d like to keep it up,” he said. “Hopefully it’s a good year this year. I’m glad this tournament is here so I can build some confidence for the Joburg Open.”
Desvonde Botes plays out of Centurion Country Club and dominated the course on Thursday posting a 62, setting the lowest score for the tournament with his 10-under-par round. The 38-year-old moved 26 places up the leaderboard and into a share of third.
“It all just fell together, and I’m looking forward to the season after a day like that. It’s always nice having some confidence going into the bigger events, but for now we’ve got to get through tomorrow,” he said.
Joining him was Steven Ferreira, who earned a share of third with his second-round 67. Ferreira will complete the leading three-ball on Friday, and looked forward to having a crack at glory so early on in the season.
“It’s good to get yourself up there, and it will be nice to play at the top tomorrow. It’s definitely going to test my nerves, but hopefully I can stick to my game plan and play the shots that need to be played,” he said.
Scores (RSA unless otherwise specified):
130 - PH McIntyre 66 64, Oliver Bekker 66 64
132 - Steven Ferreira 65 67, Desvonde Botes 70 62
133 - Matthew Carvell 64 69
134 - Ryan Strauss 68 66, Ross McGowan (ENG) 64 70, Wallie Coetsee 67 67
135 - Shaun Norris 68 67
136 - Tjaart van der Walt 69 67, Tyrone Ferreira 69 67, Riekus Nortje 67 69, James Kingston 68 68
137 - Martin du Toit 71 66, Teboho Sefatsa 71 66, Warren Abery 71 66, Jean Hugo 69 68, Lyle Rowe 71 66, MJ Daffue 70 67, Jared Harvey 68 69
138 - JJ Senekal 67 71, Mark Murless 70 68, Toto Thimba (Jnr) 69 69, Louis de Jager 68 70, Ruan de Smidt 73 65, Dawie Van der Walt 66 72
139 - Ryan Cairns (ZIM) 71 68, Ockie Strydom 67 72, Ulrich van den Berg 72 67, Grant Muller 70 69, Johan Bekker 66 73, Ryan Tipping 67 72
140 - Tyrone Ryan 73 67, Theunis Spangenberg 71 69, Anthony Michael 70 70, Morne Buys 69 71, Albert Pistorius 74 66, Tyrone Mordt 71 69
141 - Michael du Toit 69 72, Colin Nel 69 72, Charl Coetzee 74 67, Wynand Dingle 68 73, David Hewan 67 74, Alex Haindl 71 70, Joshua Cunliffe 73 68
Missed the cut:
142 - Justin Harding 69 73, Lindani Ndwandwe 72 70, Chris Swanepoel 70 72, Pieter Kruger 70 72
143 - Mark Williams 71 72, Musiwalo Nethunzwi 73 70, Michiel Bothma 73 70, Derik Ferreira 70 73, Michael Hollick 71 72
144 - Gert Myburgh 72 72, Neil Schietekat 70 74, Vaughn Groenewald 71 73
145 - Keenan Davidse 75 70
146 - Neil Cheetham (ENG) 74 72, Andrew Georgiou 75 71, Ryan Thompson 72 74, Johan du Buisson 79 67, Trevor Fisher Jnr 70 76
147 - Bradford Vaughan 71 76, Divan van den Heever 76 71, Brandon Pieters 72 75, Paul Marks 74 73
149 - Daniel Greene 73 76, Dean Burmester 73 76
158 - Johan van Vuuren 81 77
159 - JG Claassen 80 79
169 - Norman Mashaba 83 86
