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Ekurhuleni - There were two aces on Friday in the second round of the South African Open, but there is always an element of luck about a hole-in-one.
With respect to England's Richard McEvoy and South Africa's Le Roux Ferreira, who both aced the 158m par-3 14th, the shot of the day was - by comparison a tiny little shot - a 30m chip over a tricky patch of ground.
South African Keith Horne missed the green short and right with his tee-shot at the 201m third hole, one of the toughest par-3s that the professionals encounter on the Sunshine Tour.
Horne admitted it was a "horrible" shot and his ball landed in the rough.
It wasn't the easiest of lies. It required a low, delicate chip running through some longish grass, then a short stretch of closely-mown fairway before reaching a putting surface running hard and fast. The pin was tucked on the far side of the green, and a chip hit a touch too strong would roll down a slope 20 feet past the cup into bogey country.
Now Horne had do some of the serious "detective work" required of golf professionals - trying to find clues to determine how speed and slope and, in this case, wind on a blustery day would affect his shot.
He spent a good deal of time figuring this all out before trusting his judgement and executing the little shot.
The eight-time Sunshine Tour winner pulled it off to perfection, with his golf ball - as if by remote control - running up straight towards the cup and stopping just two feet short of it to set up an easy, tap-in par three.
"It is shots like that that kept the momentum going for me today in tricky conditions because the wind was swirling all the time," said Horne who posted a bogey-free 69 for an eight-under-par 136 halfway total and the clubhouse lead.
McEvoys' ace, incidentally, was his first on the main European Tour in his 15 years as a professional.
"The hole was playing to about 145m, just perfect for my smooth nine-iron and in it went. At that stage I was needing to make up a couple of shots to make sure I made the cut and, well, I made up those two shots with just one shot!" exclaimed the 36-year-old who posted a 69 following his opening 75 for a level par 144 aggregate.
As an amateur McEvoy played for England and made the Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team.
His professional career has seen him divide his time between the European and Challenge Tours, and he has only won once in the paid ranks, on the Challenge Tour in the 2005 Panama Open.
He finished tied third in the South African Open in 2011, which equals his best finish on the European Tour.
Scores:
-8 - Keith Horne (RSA) 67 69, Branden Grace (RSA) 69 (-5) [11]
-7 - Jbe' Kruger (RSA) 67 70
-6 - Justin Walters (RSA) 68 70, Ross McGowan (ENG) 68 70, Brandon Stone (RSA) 71 67
-5 - Christiaan Bezuidenhout (RSA) 70 69, Jacques Kruyswijk (RSA) 69 (-2) [5]
-4 - Retief Goosen (RSA) 68 72, Dean Burmester (RSA) 70 70, Cameron Moralee (AMA) (RSA) 69 71, Nino Bertasio (ITA) 69 (-1) [13], Chris Swanepoel (RSA) 70 (-2) [11]
-3 - Nicolo Ravano (ITA ) 69 72, Matthew Southgate (ENG) 70 (-1) [12], Jaco Van Zyl (RSA) 65 (+4) [11], Mark Williams (RSA) 71 (-2) [11], Daniel Brooks (ENG) 68 (+1) [7]
-2 - Graeme Storm (ENG) 72 70, Craig Lee (SCO) 72 70, Thomas Linard (FRA) 68 74, Michael Palmer (RSA) 70 (Par) [13], Clement Berardo (FRA) 70 (Par) [12], Tano Goya (ARG) 68 (+2) [12], Laurie Canter (ENG) 69 (+1) [10], Anthony Michael (RSA) 69 (+1) [8], Louis de Jager (RSA) 72 (-2) [7]
-1 - Jason Scrivener (AUS) 72 71, Lee Slattery (ENG) 75 68, Hennie Otto (RSA) 76 67, Daniel Im (USA) 73 70, Vaughn Groenewald (RSA) 72 71, Robert Rock (ENG) 70 (+1) [12], Gregory Bourdy (FRA) 70 (+1) [12], Ruan de Smidt (RSA) 70 (+1) [12], David Howell (ENG) 71 (Par) [10], Zander Lombard (RSA) 71 (Par) [10], Daniel Greene (RSA) 73 (-2) [4]
Par - Richard McEvoy (ENG) 75 69, Romain Wattel (FRA) 74 70, Trevor Fisher Jnr (RSA) 71 73, Ben Evans (ENG) 71 73, Erik van Rooyen (RSA) 73 71, Dominic Foos (GER) 74 70, Marcel Siem (GER) 70 (+2) [11], Renato Paratore (ITA) 74 (-2) [9], JC Ritchie (RSA) 72 (Par) [7], David Dixon (ENG) 72 (Par) [6]
+1 - Stuart Manley (WAL) 72 73, Lyle Rowe (RSA) 73 72, Tjaart van der Walt (RSA) 74 71, Jamie McLeary (SCO) 72 73, David Drysdale (SCO) 69 76, Wallie Coetsee (RSA) 70 75, Lasse Jensen(DEN) 73 72, Jorge Campillo (ESP) 72 (+1) [12], Garth Mulroy (RSA) 69 (+4) [12], Doug McGuigan (SCO) 71 (+2) [11], Jaco Ahlers (RSA) 72 (+1) [8], Oliver Bekker (RSA) 71 (+2) [7], Neil Schietekat (RSA) 74 (-1) [6], Edoardo Molinari (ITA) 71 (+2) [5]
+2 - Alex Haindl (RSA) 71 75, Dwayne Basson (RSA) 75 (-1) [12], Nacho Elvira (ESP) 73 (+1) [11], Jens Fahrbring (SWE) 74 (Par) [9], Johan Carlsson (SWE) 70 (+4) [7], Christiaan Basson (RSA) 73 (+1) [7], Derick Petersen (RSA) 77 (-3) [6], Adilson Da Silva (BRA) 74 (Par) [5]
+3 - Louis Calitz (RSA) 77 70, Lindani Ndwandwe (RSA) 74 73, Callum Mowat (RSA) 75 72, Andy Sullivan (ENG) 75 72, Darren Fichardt (RSA) 73 74, Peter Karmis (RSA) 74 73, Daniel Gavins (ENG) 70 77, Le Roux Ferreira (RSA) 74 (+1) [13], Jaco Prinsloo (RSA) 73 (+2) [13], Ernie Els (RSA) 73 (+2) [10], Jean Hugo (RSA) 71 (+4) [9], Madalitso Muthiya (ZAM) 74 (+1) [9], Merrick Bremner (RSA) 72 (+3) [8], Dylan Frittelli (RSA) 74 (+1) [7], Chris Hanson (ENG) 74 (+1) [5]
+4 - George Coetzee (RSA) 75 73, Tyrone Mordt (RSA) 73 75, Rhys Davies (WAL) 75 73, Pelle Edberg (SWE) 71 77, Andrew Curlewis (RSA) 73 75, Jared Harvey (RSA) 76 72, Oliver Fisher (ENG) 71 77, Teaghan Gauche (AMA) (RSA) 75 (+1) [13], Ockie Strydom (RSA) 72 (+4) [11], Ulrich van den Berg (RSA) 74 (+2) [10], Matt Ford (ENG) 75 (+1) [10], Simon Dyson (ENG) 75 (+1) [9], Colin Nel (RSA) 73 (+3) [8]
+5 - Haydn Porteous (RSA) 70 79, Andrew Johnston (ENG) 76 73, Matthew Baldwin (ENG) 72 77, Titch Moore (RSA) 73 76, Gary Boyd (ENG) 75 74, Adrian Otaegui (ESP) 71 78, Tyrone Ferreira (RSA) 73 76, Darryn Lloyd (RSA) 76 73, David Meyers (AMA) (RSA) 71 78, Shaun Norris (RSA) 66 (+11) [12], Richard Sterne (RSA) 72 (+5) [12], Sebastien Gros (FRA) 74 (+3) [11], Trevor Immelman (RSA) 75 (+2) [10], Borja Virto Astudillo (ESP) 78 (-1) [8]
+6 - Herman Loubser (AMA) (RSA) 74 76, Trevor Dodds( NAM) 78 72, Michiel Bothma (RSA) 76 74, Lukas Nemecz (AUT) 77 73, James Robinson (ENG) 78 72, Tristen Strydom (AMA) (RSA) 78 72, Jeff Winther (DEN) 78 (Par) [12], Jacques Blaauw (RSA) 74 (+4) [10], Gary Stal (FRA) 74 (+4) [10], Andrew Georgiou (CYP) 73 (+5) [9], Jason Froneman (RSA) 74 (+4) [5], Daniel Hammond (RSA) 74 (+4) [4]
+7 - Francesco Laporta (ITA) 75 76, John Parry (ENG) 79 72, Jake Redman (RSA) 72 79, Danie van Tonder (RSA) 74 77, Pablo Martin Benavides (ESP) 71 80, Seve Benson (ENG) 80 71, Ryan Evans (ENG) 75 (+4) [13], Rourke van der Spuy (RSA) 77 (+2) [10], CJ du Plessis (RSA) 74 (+5) [9], Michael Hollick (RSA) 73 (+6) [7], Mark Foster (ENG) 77 (+2) [5], Marcus Kinhult (SWE) 76 (+3) [4]
+8 - Justin Harding (RSA) 75 (+5) [10], PH McIntyre (RSA) 78 (+2) [9]
+9 - Bjorn Akesson (SWE) 74 79, Albert Venter (AMA) (RSA) 74 79, James Busby (ENG) 77 (+4) [10], Joachim B. Hansen (DEN) 79 (+2) [7], Jack Kutumane (RSA) 79 (+2) [5]
+10 - Jeff Inglis (ENG) 73 81, Eddie Taylor (RSA) 76 (+6) [5]
+11 - Daniel Young (SCO) (AMA) 79 76, Heinrich Bruiners (RSA) 79 76, Morten Orum Madsen (DEN) 79 (+4) [9], Andre Nel (AMA) (RSA) 81 (+2) [5]
+12 - Jade Buitendag (AMA) (RSA) 74 82, Oliver Wilson (ENG) 80 (+4) [8]
+13 - Rhys West (RSA) 75 82
+14 - Jean-Paul Strydom (RSA) 82 76
+17 - Jin Jeong (KOR) 79 82
RTD - Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL), Richard Finch (ENG)
