Share

Amateur Schaper chasing SA Open history

Johannesburg - Teenage sensation Jayden Schaper heads into the weekend of the South African Open just one shot off the lead and looking to become the first amateur to win this title since 1959.

The 18-year-old climbed to 10-under-par for the championship with a second round of 67 on Randpark's Firethorn course on Friday. He sits in a group of five players including Thriston Lawrence, Sam Horsfield, Jaco Ahlers and Trevor Fisher Jnr. just one shot off the 11-under-par lead of Tapio Pulkkanen of Finland, who signed for a 66 on Firethorn.

Schaper is seeking to make history as the first amateur since Denis Hutchinson over 60 years ago to win the South African Open.

"It's just special to be near the top of the leaderboard and having played with one of my idols Louis Oosthuizen over the past two days," said the country's top-ranked amateur, who last year won a host of titles on home soil as well as the prestigious Junior Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in the United States.

"The way I see it, it's the same golf course and just a different field. I'll just treat it as any amateur event I've played in. There will be a bit of nerves, but I kind of enjoy that. I'm just looking forward to the weekend. It would be pretty special to match what Mr Hutchinson did, but I'm just going to take it one shot at a time and if the opportunity comes I'll try my best to take it."

Defending champion Louis Oosthuizen heads into the weekend three shots off the lead despite what he said was a frustrating 69 on Firethorn on Friday.

"I hit it as good as I can but I just didn't make any putts. I started doubting my lines and then made a few bad strokes. But it's still fine. I'm three behind going into the weekend and that's a good spot to be," said Oosthuizen.

Fellow South Africans Branden Grace and George Coetzee are also just three off the lead. 

Scores:

131 - Tapio Pulkkanen 65 66

132 - Sam Horsfield 64 68, Jayden Schaper 65 67, Thriston Lawrence 67 65, Jaco Ahlers 66 66, Trevor Fisher Jnr 65 67

133 - Daniel Greene 67 66, Harry Hall 65 68, Johannes Veerman 62 71, Jack Senior 67 66

134 - Hennie du Plessis 67 67, George Coetzee 65 69, Andy Sullivan 66 68, Branden Grace 64 70, Peter Karmis 64 70, Mark Williams 67 67, Connor Syme 66 68, Maverick Antcliff 67 67, Jacques Blaauw 69 65, Keith Horne 69 65, Louis Oosthuizen 65 69, Nino Bertasio 63 71

135 - Wynand Dingle 68 67, CJ du Plessis 66 69, Matthew Baldwin 65 70, Gavin Green 68 67, JC Ritchie 63 72, Marcel Siem 66 69, Min Woo Lee 66 69

136 - James Hart du Preez 71 65, Brett Rumford 69 67, Rhys Enoch 69 67, Thomas Detry 68 68, Jeff Winther 65 71, Haydn Porteous 70 66, Matias Calderon 64 72, Hurly Long 70 66, Steve Surry 69 67, Philip Geerts 66 70, Chris Paisley 68 68, Julien Guerrier 68 68, Garth Mulroy 71 65, Oliver Farr 68 68

137 - Luke Jerling 67 70, Juran Dreyer 69 68, Gregory Bourdy 70 67, Martin Rohwer 66 71, Richard Bland 70 67, Antoine Rozner 66 71, Rikard Karlberg 70 67, Gavin Moynihan 68 69, Sami Valimaki 67 70, Ross Mcgowan 69 68, Hennie Otto 66 71, Lorenzo Scalise 68 69, David Micheluzzi 65 72, Marcus Armitage 65 72, Shaun Norris 68 69

138 - Clement Sordet 71 67, Christo Lamprecht 70 68, Ruan de Smidt 66 72, Jean Hugo 70 68, Erik van Rooyen 70 68, Joachim B. Hansen 70 68, Jarryd Felton 67 71, Jaco Van Zyl 70 68, Jonathan Caldwell 70 68, Jacques Kruyswijk 66 72, Marc Warren 70 68, Estiaan Conradie 72 66, Deon Germishuys 70 68, Dave Coupland 71 67, Philip Eriksson 70 68, Rourke van der Spuy 64 74, Casey Jarvis 68 70, Chase Hanna 70 68

Missed the cut:-

139 - Anton Haig 71 68, Ben Evans 72 67, Musiwalo Nethunzwi 67 72, James Kamte 72 67, Daniel Young 69 70, Laurie Canter 73 66, Wil Besseling 73 66, Garrick Higgo 70 69, Zander Lombard 69 70, Dean Burmester 68 71, Sean Crocker 67 72, Luke Brown 70 69, Pedro Figueiredo 68 71, Toto Thimba 64 75, Justin Walters 70 69, Rasmus Hojgaard 65 74, Richard Sterne 71 68, Justin Harding 69 70, Louis de Jager 68 71, Neil Schietekat 69 70, Darren Fichardt 70 69, Jovan Rebula 70 69, Ricardo Santos 70 69

140 - Robin Petersson 71 69, MJ Viljoen 66 74, Jbe' Kruger 70 70, Charl Schwartzel 73 67, Doug McGuigan 68 72, Adilson Da Silva 69 71, Caylum Boon 68 72, Toby Tree 69 71, Nicolai Hojgaard 69 71, Anton Karlsson 70 70, Christiaan Bezuidenhout 71 69, David Howell 71 69, David Drysdale 69 71, Robin Sciot-Siegrist 68 72, Anthony Michael 70 70, Garrick Porteous 71 69

141 - Damien Perrier 72 69, Jake Redman 69 72, Masahiro Kawamura 70 71, Wilco Nienaber 72 69, Ockie Strydom 72 69, Callum Mowat 72 69, Stefan Wears-Taylor 69 72, Ruan Conradie 70 71, Adrien Saddier 68 73, Jean-Paul Strydom 67 74, Fredrik From 70 71, Brandon Stone 70 71, Merrick Bremner 68 73, Niklas Lemke 73 68, Jake Roos 72 69

142 - Jordan Wrisdale 70 72, Riekus Nortje 72 70, Jonathan Agren 71 71, Michael Palmer 71 71, Jamie Donaldson 71 71, Conor Purcell 71 71, Dylan Naidoo 73 69, Louis Albertse 72 70, Raphael Jacquelin 70 72, Joel Sjoholm 71 71, Merrick van As 72 70, Chris Swanepoel 74 68, James Morrison 71 71, Benjamin Poke 69 73

143 - Bryce Easton 71 72, Stephen Ferreira 70 73, Ryan Tipping 73 70, Alejandro Canizares 72 71, Paul Boshoff 72 71, Richard Mcevoy 74 69, Sebastian Heisele 71 72, David Law 72 71, Makhetha Mazibuko 70 73, Dylan Kok 69 74, Daniel van Tonder 69 74, Andre De Decker 69 74, Madalitso Muthiya 72 71, Lars van Meijel 68 75

144 - Derick Petersen 70 74, Jacques P de Villiers 67 77, Duane Keun 70 74, Keenan Davidse 74 70, Eddie Pepperell 73 71, Morten Orum Madsen 68 76, Yurav Premlall 69 75, Theunis Bezuidenhout 73 71, Quintin Wilsnach 75 69, Jean-Baptiste Gonnet 69 75, Teaghan Gauche 74 70, Ryan Cairns 69 75, Bennie van der Merwe 72 72, Francesco Laporta 71 73, Jordan Duminy 69 75, Dale Whitnell 70 74

145 - Max Schmitt 73 72, Dwayne Basson 74 71, Daan Huizing 70 75, Craig Howie 74 71, Bernd Ritthammer 70 75, Heinrich Bruiners 74 71, Stanislav Matus 74 71, JJ Senekal 75 70, Lee Slattery 73 72, Thabiso Ngcobo 68 77, Christiaan Basson 70 75, Keelan van Wyk 72 73, Herman Loubser 72 73, Kieron van Wyk 74 71, James Kingston 71 74, Carlos Pigem 75 70, Lyle Rowe 75 70

146 - Martin Simonsen 70 76, Jose-Filipe Lima 72 74, Andrew van der Knaap 70 76, Ewen Ferguson 72 74, Aron Zemmer 73 73, Allister de Kock 71 75, Daniel Gavins 71 75, Martin Vorster 71 75, Franklin Manchest 73 73, Andre Nel 72 74, Chris Wood 71 75, Oliver Bekker 71 75, Robin Roussel 69 77

147 - David Dixon 73 74, Benjamin Follett-Smith 79 68, Gregory Havret 72 75, Jaco Prinsloo 73 74, Roberto Lupini 73 74, Alex Haindl 73 74, Combrinck Smit 71 76, Kyle Barker 70 77

148 - Peetie van der Merwe 69 79, David McIntyre 73 75, Basil Wright 69 79, Kyle De Beer 76 72, Coert Groenewald 78 70, Samuel Simpson 77 71, Vaughn Groenewald 75 73

149 - Gerrit Foster 76 73, Dylan Mostert 76 73, Titch Moore 77 72

150 - James Allan 77 73, Tom Gandy 72 78, Marc Cayeux 70 80, Jesper Sandborg 75 75, Kyle McClatchie 75 75, Wallie Coetsee 76 74

151 - Terence Mogapi 75 76, Jacquin Hess 74 77

152 - Gary Stal 79 73, Callum Shinkwin 74 78, Clayton Mansfield 77 75

153 - Keelan Africa 76 77, Adriel Poonan 73 80

154 - Chris Cannon 74 80, Tyrone Ryan 81 73, Cameron Esau 79 75

156 - Clinton Grobler 77 79

RTD - Pieter Moolman 75 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