Share

Lies set Bryce up for lead at St Francis

Cape Town - He lied to himself throughout his second nine on Friday, and that helped Bryce Bibby to an eight-under-par 64 and the 36-hole lead in the R650 000 Vodacom Origins of Golf event presented by Samsung at St Francis Links.

He made nine birdies and a bogey in his round, which won’t qualify as a course record because there was placing, and it was good enough to give him a three-shot cushion at the top of the leaderboard over Christiaan Basson.

He reached the turn in six-under-par 30, and it was then that the exercise in self-deception began.

“I just kept lying to myself, saying ‘You’re only level-par, try and get under par.’ I didn’t try and protect the score,” he said.

“I felt I’d already posted a good score, so I had a bit of a cushion to make an error. So I tried to make a couple more birdies.”

He’d made more than enough to go around for a great round in just that opening nine: He started with two in a row on his first two holes, and then reeled off four in a row from the fourth to the seventh.

“It was awesome. I enjoyed it,” he said.

“When I got on that run, I just told myself to relax and enjoy it.”

Turning in 30 in a tournament was a new experience for him. “I’ve shot 30 for nine before, but never in a tournament. It doesn’t come around often, though,” he allowed.

The only blemish on his card came on the 12th: “I hit a drive with a little bit of a heel fade into the wind, and it landed on a bit of an upslope,” he explained.

“I had about 118 metres, and I tried to hit a soft nine-iron and I caught it a bit heavy. It fell just short of the green and I didn’t get it up and down.”

Bibby, who is in his second year on the Sunshine Tour after a tough rookie season in 2014, has been trying to get into position to cement his place on the Sunshine Tour. Two top-20 finishes have helped, but two missed cuts in his last two tournaments didn’t.

Hard work on the putting green helped. “My putting worked particularly well today. I’ve been working hard at it as you can see,” he said, pointing at the spare putter he was holding.

“I struggled with putting in the last two tournaments.”

Basson’s round looked as if it was going to be bogey-free until he dropped the only shot of his day on his final hole – the ninth. He carded a fine 66 to move to eight-under-par, while it fell to Mark Williams of Zimbabwe to turn in the only clean sheet of the day: He made four birdies in his final five holes for his 67, leaving him four off Bibby’s pace.

The 23-year-old Bibby who plays out of Royal Durban not only lied to himself for nine holes, he also managed to play with the closest thing to a poker face you’ll see on a course.

“I try to keep my emotions in check - but I was very happy,” he said.

Scores:

133 - Bryce Bibby (RSA) 69 64

136 - Christiaan Basson (RSA) 70 66

137 - Mark Williams (ZIM) 70 67

138 - Ulrich van den Berg (RSA) 67 71

139 - Pieter Moolman (RSA) 68 71, JC Ritchie (RSA) 71 68, Jean Hugo (RSA) 67 72, Andrew Curlewis (RSA) 68 71

140 - Trevor Mahoney (RSA) 69 71, Zander Lombard (RSA) 69 71, Madalitso Muthiya (ZAM) 70 70, Ruan de Smidt (RSA) 71 69

141 - Allan Versfeld (RSA) 70 71

142 - Werner van Niekerk (RSA) 73 69, Tyrone Ferreira (RSA) 69 73, Peter Karmis (RSA) 73 69, Heinrich Bruiners (RSA) 71 71, JJ Senekal (RSA) 75 67, Eddie Taylor (RSA) 70 72, Tyron Roelofsz (RSA) 70 72, Chris Swanepoel (RSA) 71 71, Le Roux Ferreira (RSA) 70 72, Divan Gerber (RSA) 70 72

143 - Ryan Tipping (RSA) 70 73, Titch Moore (RSA) 72 71, Mark Murless (RSA) 73 70, Lyle Rowe (RSA) 73 70, Rourke van der Spuy (RSA) 71 72

144 - Louis de Jager (RSA) 73 71, Tyrone Ryan (RSA) 70 74, Alan Michell (RSA) 67 77, Rhys Enoch (WAL) 75 69

145 - Gert Myburgh (RSA) 77 68, Jacquin Hess (RSA) 73 72, Drikus van der Walt (RSA) 73 72, Hennie du Plessis (RSA) 70 75, Doug McGuigan (RSA) 70 75, Alex Haindl (RSA) 72 73, Steven Ferreira (RSA) 75 70, Jean-Paul Strydom (RSA) 67 78

Missed the cut:

146 - Oliver Bekker (RSA) 74 72, Justin Turner (RSA) 76 70, Antonio Rosado (POR) 72 74, Andre Cruse (RSA) 75 71, Desvonde Botes (RSA) 72 74, Rhys West (RSA) 70 76

147 - Jaco Prinsloo (RSA) 75 72, Thanda Mavundla (RSA) 77 70, Charl Coetzee (RSA) 68 79, Ryan Cairns (ZIM) 73 74, MJ Viljoen (RSA) 75 72, Steve Surry (ENG) 74 73, Neil Schietekat (RSA) 72 75, Warren Abery (RSA) 73 74, PH McIntyre (RSA) 74 73, Attie Schwartzel (RSA) 76 71

148 - Greg Bentley (ZIM) 77 71, Henry Featherstone (ENG) 75 73, Lindani Ndwandwe (RSA) 75 73, Colin Nel (RSA) 73 75, Vaughn Groenewald (RSA) 74 74, Etienne Bond (RSA) 75 73, Louis Calitz (RSA) 73 75

149 - Russel Franz (RSA) 73 76, Maritz Wessels (RSA) 78 71, Shaun Smith (RSA) 73 76, Calvin Caldeira (RSA) 74 75

150 - Coert Groenewald (RSA) 79 71, Callum Mowat (RSA) 80 70, Makhetha Mazibuko (RSA) 77 73, Otto van Greunen (RSA) 75 75, Breyten Meyer (RSA) 80 70, Lean Boezaart (RSA) 74 76, Jeff Inglis (ENG) 77 73

151 - Drikus Bruyns (RSA) 77 74, Daniel Greene (RSA) 77 74, Wallie Coetsee (RSA) 77 74, Divan van den Heever (RSA) 68 83

152 - Kevin Rundle (RSA) 79 73, Grant Muller (RSA) 76 76, Teboho Sefatsa (RSA) 75 77, Derick Petersen (RSA) 76 76

153 - Roberto Lupini (RSA) 78 75, Johan du Buisson (RSA) 70 83, Morne Buys (RSA) 80 73, Andrew Georgiou (CYP) 77 76

154 - Stefan Engell Andersen (KEN) 73 81, Derik Ferreira (RSA) 77 77, Roux Jeffery (NAM) 78 76

155 - Allister de Kock (RSA) 77 78, Burger Heckroodt (RSA) 75 80, Jake Redman (RSA) 74 81

156 - Theunis Spangenberg (RSA) 79 77

157 - Arthur Horne (SWZ) 78 79, Matthew Carvell (RSA) 76 81

158 - Ruan Huysamen (NAM) 81 77, Toto Thimba (Jnr) 76 82, Glen de Waal (NAM) 76 82

159 - Dayne Moore (ZAM) 74 85

160 - Wayne De Haas (RSA) 82 78, Francois Coetzee (RSA) 79 81

166 - Stuart Smith (BOT) 88 78, Johan van der Wath (RSA) 87 79

RTD - Luke Kelly (RSA) 83 RTD

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Should Siya Kolisi keep the captaincy as the Springboks build towards their World Cup title defence in 2027?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes! Siya will only be 36 at the next World Cup. He can make it!
26% - 1273 votes
No! I think the smart thing to do is start again with a younger skipper ...
29% - 1470 votes
I'd keep Siya captain for now, but look to have someone else for 2027.
45% - 2249 votes
Vote
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE