Kruyswijk, De Jager in a two-way share of Limpopo Championship lead

Cape Town - It’s an all-South African affair at the top of the leaderboard of the Limpopo Championship with Jacques Kruyswijk and Louis de Jager signing for a 64 each to total 13-under-par after the second round to co-lead by two shots going into the third round at Euphoria Golf and Lifestyle Estate.

Kruyswijk began his round beautifully, birdieing the first two holes. Two pars later, he made two more birdies to turn in 32 and bogey-free. After making four straight pars from the seventh through to the 10^th hole, Kruyswijk made his only bogey of the day, dropping a shot on the par-four 11^th.

That drop was his last because after that he steadied himself nicely, making back-to-back birdies on the 13^th and 14^th holes. He made further gains one hole later, picking up a birdie on the par-three 16^th before closing with an eagle to seal top spot ahead of the weekend.

“It was just a great day,” Kruyswijk said, “so many great feelings around this golf course. This is where I grew up. This is where it all started for me. The putter worked well but I gave myself a lot of chances. Same game plan tomorrow. I’ll go out there and play some aggressive golf because that how I play. I know Euphoria quite well so I’m looking forward to the challenge. I’m where I need to be, I’m leading and that is where I want to be at.”

De Jager had a similar start to his round, making birdies on the first two holes. He had to stay patient before making further gains because his next birdie came on the sixth hole. That was followed by two more on the eighth and ninth holes. After the turn, he picked up another birdie on the 11^th and three pars later, another birdie found its way to his card. Pars on the 16^th and 17^th holes were followed by another birdie on the last hole as he went around Koro Creek without dropping a single shot.

“It was quite tough out here,” said De Jager after his round, “the wind was gusty and blowing in all kinds of directions but I putted well, so I’m really pleased going into the weekend. I’m in a perfect position for the weekend. Euphoria is a strong golf course, you’ve got to hit it well off the tee and you have to hit it straight, but I enjoy the golf course.”

Sitting third and despite dropping a shot on his first hole of the day, rookie Wilco Nienaber showed great resilience to sign for a 68 which took his total for the week to 11-under-par. A shot behind him lies Hennie du Plessis who has been in great form since recovering from a back injury a few months back. He signed for a 69 to total 10-under and coming hot behind him is the defending champion, JC Ritchie, along with overnight leader, Daniel van Tonder. They’re both nine-under-par and four shots behind the leaders.

The final two rounds of the Limpopo Championship will be streamed live on Facebook and YouTube from 13H00 on Saturday and Sunday.

Scores:

131 - Jacques Kruyswijk 67 64, Louis de Jager 67 64
133 - Wilco Nienaber 65 68
134 - Hennie du Plessis 65 69
135 - JC Ritchie 66 69, Daniel van Tonder 63 72
136 - Breyten Meyer 68 68, Jaco Van Zyl 68 68, Ross Mcgowan 68 68, Eirik Tage Johansen 68 68, Clement Sordet 68 68, Anton Karlsson 68 68, Federico Maccario 68 68
137 - Marcel Schneider 67 70, David Dixon 68 69, Laurie Canter 67 70, Todd Clements 66 71, MJ Viljoen 65 72, Bryce Easton 67 70, Craig Howie 67 70
138 - Garrick Higgo 70 68, Rhys Enoch 74 64, Rourke van der Spuy 67 71, Ruan Conradie 69 69, Jake Redman 67 71, James Allan 69 69, Neil Schietekat 68 70, Toto Thimba 67 71, Aron Zemmer 68 70
139 - Oliver Lindell 68 71, Jbe' Kruger 73 66, Jacques Blaauw 71 68, Anthony Michael 68 71, Christopher Mivis 70 69, Anton Haig 66 73, Jens Dantorp 68 71, Lorenzo Scalise 67 72, Ockie Strydom 70 69
140 - Herman Loubser 69 71, Robin Petersson 71 69, Mathieu Fenasse 70 70, Stephen Ferreira 68 72, Keith Horne 70 70, Joel Stalter 73 67, Kristoffer Reitan 72 68, Deon Germishuys 68 72, Andre Nel 67 73, Garth Mulroy 67 73, Bernd Ritthammer 66 74, Hennie Otto 70 70, Christiaan Basson 72 68, Jaco Prinsloo 68 72, Dylan Naidoo 70 70, Keenan Davidse 72 68
141 - Nathan Kimsey 72 69, Matt Ford 75 66, Kyle Barker 67 74, Ben Stow 71 70, CJ du Plessis 71 70, Lyle Rowe 69 72, Martin Rohwer 70 71, Jake Roos 71 70, Stuart Manley 68 73, Chase Hanna 68 73, Teboho Sefatsa 69 72, Jonas Kolbing 66 75, Harry Ellis 74 67, Niklas Norgaard Moller 72 69, Mitch Waite 73 68, Jaco Ahlers 70 71, Nicolai Hojgaard 68 73, Matias Calderon 70 71, Pep Angles 67 74, Santiago Tarrio Ben 69 72, Henric Sturehed 72 69, Daniel Young 72 69

Missed the cut:

142 - Benjamin Rusch 73 69, Louis Albertse 69 73, Daniel Gavins 72 70, Robbie Van West 73 69, Ewen Ferguson 71 71, Clinton Grobler 71 71, Rupert Kaminski 74 68, Jacob Glennemo 71 71, Nicolai Kristensen 73 69, Pelle Edberg 68 74, Makhetha Mazibuko 71 71, Minkyu Kim 68 74, Heinrich Bruiners 70 72, Fredrik From 69 73, Raphael de Sousa 68 74
143 - David Boote 74 69, Jack Harrison 70 73, James Hart du Preez 72 71, Trevor Fisher Jnr 72 71, Matthew Baldwin 72 71, Philip Eriksson 66 77, Sipho Bujela 70 73, Wallie Coetsee 73 70, Hurly Long 71 72, Jayden Schaper 71 72, Peter Karmis 65 78, Wynand Dingle 67 76
144 - Robin Dawson 73 71, Christopher Sahlstrom 77 67, Lauri Ruuska 73 71, Jordan Wrisdale 70 74, Steven Tiley 70 74, Martin Simonsen 75 69, Kyle McClatchie 71 73, Damien Perrier 69 75, Jonathan Waschefort 73 71, Jean Hugo 67 77, Daan Huizing 71 73, Toby Tree 72 72, Nicolai Von Dellingshausen 75 69, Vaughn Groenewald 73 71, Liam Johnston 75 69, Thriston Lawrence 70 74, Moritz Lampert 72 72, Bradley Neil 74 70
145 - Steve Surry 69 76, Mark Williams 72 73, Ricardo Gouveia 76 69, Adilson Da Silva 73 72, Ulrich van den Berg 69 76, Oscar Lengden 73 72, Benjamin Follett-Smith 74 71, Thomas Linard 73 72, Ryan Cairns 76 69, Mikael Lundberg 77 68, Jens Fahrbring 73 72, Marcel Siem 74 71, Niall Kearney 74 71
146 - Dylan Kok 73 73, Gudmundur Kristjansson 72 74, Gary Stal 75 71, Andre De Decker 76 70, Ugo Coussaud 75 71, Juran Dreyer 71 75, Peetie van der Merwe 72 74, Christofer Blomstrand 73 73, Bennie van der Merwe 71 75, Chris Cannon 69 77, Enrico Di Nitto 72 74
147 - Jack Floydd 69 78, Madalitso Muthiya 74 73, Jonathan Thomson 70 77, Luke Jerling 72 75, Ruan de Smidt 71 76, Richard Mansell 70 77, James Kamte 71 76, Michael Hollick 75 72, Clancy Waugh 72 75, Alex Haindl 71 76, Dominic Foos 74 73, Chris Swanepoel 70 77
148 - Teaghan Gauche 71 77, Callum Mowat 71 77, Riekus Nortje 76 72, Felix Mory 75 73, Hendrikus Stoop 77 71, Alfie Plant 75 73, Jean-Paul Strydom 73 75, Andrew van der Knaap 71 77, Derick Petersen 74 74
149 - Stanislav Matus 70 79, Conor O'Rourke 75 74, Alexander Knappe 76 73, Merrick Bremner 73 76, David Borda 75 74, Euan Walker 73 76
150 - Allen John 74 76, Martin Wiegele 76 74
151 - Deyen Lawson 73 78, Frederic Lacroix 74 77, Ryan Tipping 76 75, Haraldur Magnus 74 77, Paul Boshoff 74 77, Hayden Griffiths 72 79
152 - David McIntyre 75 77, Martin Ovesen 80 72, Tyrone Ryan 74 78, Jacques P de Villiers 77 75, Doug McGuigan 74 78, Daniel Brooks 77 75, Philip Geerts 75 77, DK Kim 78 74
153 - Kim Koivu 74 79, Stefan Wears-Taylor 75 78
154 - Titch Moore 74 80
155 - Hinrich Arkenau 78 77, Emilio Cuartero Blanco 71 84
156 - Michael Palmer 82 74
157 - Fritz Orren 79 78
WDN - Darren Fichardt 76 WDN, Oliver Bekker 78 WDN, Irvin Mazibuko 80 WDN, Alpheus Kelapile 77 WDN
RTD - Michael Hoey 73 RTD, Estiaan Conradie RTD RTD, Timon Baltl 80 RTD, Espen Kofstad 74 RTD, Gavin Moynihan 72 RTD