Cape Town - Andrew Georgiou has been building toward something special over the last four months on the Sunshine Tour and took one step closer to a maiden victory when he shot 67 for round two of the Sun Sibaya Challenge on Thursday.
“Jason Day got the monkey off his back recently, and I’m working for something similar. I’m playing on a different level, but I’ve been there enough times and wanted it, tasted it, almost had it. You have to keep trying and hopefully it happens,” he said.
The 29-year-old rose 12 places up the leaderboard and reached the 36-hole mark on six-under-par, one shot behind leader Jean Hugo.
Georgiou’s 11 top-10s on the Sunshine Tour have not led to a victory and he was hungry to claim top honours at the R700,000 tournament.
“There are so many good players and you need things to go your way a little bit. I think that once it happens you break free, but until then you just keep working at it,” he said.
He put on a gutsy performance while the wind howled on Thursday at Mount Edgecombe Country Club and shot the low round of the day – a flawless 67 – to claim sole second ahead of a cut to the leading 40 players and those tied on the number.
“You learn that you will go through good and bad patches in a tournament. Today I had to put my head down during the middle of the round and stick it out. Then the momentum turned and I birdied my second-last hole to rise into second place,” he said.
Hugo was a cool customer in the breeze and shot level-par 71 to head up the field on seven-under-par. Two weeks ago he won for the 17th time on the Sunshine Tour, equalling Ernie Els for wins on South African soil. He will be a tough to beat in the final round.
Georgiou, now in his fifth year on tour, was ready for the challenge.
“I love it when the wind blows. It takes a different type of game and you have to grind it out, so let it blow tomorrow. It’s not going to be easy, but let’s do it,” he said.
Durbanite Michael Hollick was in third place on five-under-par and the in-form Erik van Rooyen was fourth on four-under. Six players, including Titch Moore and Jared Harvey, were tied for
“I live on the golf course and feel fairly relaxed. My mates will come and watch tomorrow, so it should be a good final round,” said Hollick.
SCORES (RSA unless otherwise specified):
135 - Jean Hugo 64 71
136 - Andrew Georgiou (CYP) 69 67
137 - Michael Hollick 67 70
138 - Erik van Rooyen 66 72
139 - Bryce Easton 69 70, Jared Harvey 68 71, Titch Moore 66 73, Mark Williams (ZIM) 69 70, Maritz Wessels 70 69, Heinrich Bruiners 70 69, Drikus Bruyns 69 70
140 - Jean-Paul Strydom 72 68, Brandon Stone 69 71, Justin Harding 71 69, Rourke van der Spuy 69 71, Alan Michell 72 68, Lindani Ndwandwe 72 68, Madalitso Muthiya (ZAM) 69 71, Mark Murless 67 73, Allan Versfeld 69 71
141 - Francois Coetzee 70 71, Wallie Coetsee 69 72, Charl Coetzee 69 72, Daniel Greene 71 70
142 - Lean Boezaart 67 75, Doug McGuigan 68 74, JC Ritchie 69 73, Steven Ferreira 70 72, Breyten Meyer 68 74
143 - Eddie Taylor 71 72, Trevor Mahoney 73 70, Bryce Bibby 75 68, Divan van den Heever 69 74, Toto Thimba (Jnr) 70 73, Grant Muller 68 75, Neil Schietekat 68 75, Zander Lombard 72 71, JJ Senekal 70 73
144 - Stuart Smith (BOT) 72 72, Drikus van der Walt 74 70, Ulrich van den Berg 68 76, Keenan Davidse 73 71, Warren Abery 74 70
Missed the cut:-
145 - MJ Viljoen 68 77, Bradford Vaughan 72 73, Vaughn Groenewald 73 72, Jake Redman 70 75, Callie Swart 72 73, Justin Turner 72 73, Ruan de Smidt 72 73, Callum Mowat 70 75, Jacques Kruyswijk 73 72, Kevin Rundle 73 72, Antonio Rosado (POR) 70 75
146 - Desvonde Botes 71 75, Rhys West 71 75, Shaun Smith 75 71, Makhetha Mazibuko 70 76, Ryan Cairns (ZIM) 71 75, Tyron Roelofsz 70 76
147 - Wayne De Haas 71 76, Kevin Stone 74 73, Derick Petersen 71 76, Anthony Michael 71 76, Tyrone Ryan 74 73
148 - Colin Nel 75 73,
149 - Andre Cruse 73 76,
150 - Otto van Greunen 77 73, Lyle Rowe 72 78, Christiaan Basson 73 77, Tyrone Mordt 79 71, CJ du Plessis 75 75, Pieter Moolman 78 72
151 - Jacquin Hess 74 77, Le Roux Ferreira 74 77, Theunis Spangenberg 73 78, Greg Bentley (ZIM) 77 74, Ruan Huysamen (NAM) 73 78, Calvin Caldeira 77 74, Jaco Prinsloo 75 76, Francesco Laporta (ITA) 73 78
152 - Wynand Dingle 73 79, Roberto Lupini 76 76
154 - Juan Langeveld 76 78, Morne Buys 73 81, Dwayne Basson 74 80
155 -
156 - Russel Franz 71 85, Gert Myburgh 74 82
166 - Mikhail Tewary 82 84