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He carded a five-under-par 67 on a windy day, the best round of the day, to finish 10-under for 36 holes and edge one shot clear of Danie van Tonder and Doug McGuigan. First-round leader Tyrone Ferreira was in fourth at seven-under after he battled to a one-over 73.
“When I was six-under in those five holes around the turn,” said De Smidt, who started his round on the 10th, “I was able to afford a couple of mistakes after that.”
With an incessant wind of between 30 and 40 kilometres per hour, those mistake were inevitable. He’d started with a bogey, and, after his great run of scoring, he made three bogeys on his way in.
“I knew the front nine was going to be tough,” he said.
“There are a couple of brutal holes out there, so I was just happy to get it to five-under.”
With the ninth - his last - playing downwind, he was pleased to make birdie there and sign off with a flourish.
“I hit a nice tee-shot,” he said.
“I took three-wood off the tee. Unfortunately, I came up a bit short, hit a very average chip and made a good putt.”
Amongst his pursuers, McGuigan was the most impressive with his four-under-par 68. Although he made two bogeys in his opening nine to turn at one-over for the round, he came home in five-under, with five birdies to slip into a good position to strike during Saturday’s final round.
Van Tonder signed for a two-under 70, with an eagle, three birdies and three bogeys on his card.
After the second round was delayed until Friday because of high winds on Thursday, the forecast for the final round is for much gentler conditions.
With De Smidt and Van Tonder in great form at the moment, it should make for a great shoot-out, with McGuigan’s experience ready to pick up the pieces should either of them come to grief in the chase for victory.
Scores:
134 - Ruan de Smidt 67 67
135 - Danie van Tonder 65 70, Doug McGuigan 67 68
137 - Tyrone Ferreira 64 73
138 - Callum Mowat 69 69, Jake Roos 67 71
139 - Le Roux Ferreira 68 71
140 - Michael Palmer 70 70, Andrew Georgiou 67 73, Toby Tree 68 72
141 - Jake Redman 69 72, Madalitso Muthiya 68 73, Ockie Strydom 68 73
142 - Wallie Coetsee 68 74, Jason Froneman 67 75, Christiaan Basson 72 70, James Kingston 69 73, Zander Lombard 69 73, Drikus Bruyns 70 72
143 - Keenan Davidse 69 74, Titch Moore 66 77, Lindani Ndwandwe 70 73, Peter Karmis 69 74, Gert Myburgh 70 73, Jonathan Agren 72 71, Jean-Paul Strydom 70 73, Louis de Jager 69 74
144 - JC Ritchie 67 77, Pieter Kruger 70 74, Alex Haindl 66 78, Tyrone Ryan 74 70, Greg Bentley 74 70
145 - Steven Ferreira 70 75, Ryan Cairns 69 76, James Kamte 71 74, Jaco Prinsloo 69 76, Jared Harvey 70 75, Jason Diab 67 78, Jacquin Hess 72 73, Makhetha Mazibuko 71 74
Missed the cut:-
146 - Chris Swanepoel 73 73, Michael Hollick 74 72, Charl Coetzee 66 80, Stephen Ferreira 72 74, Ruan Huysamen 69 77, Allister de Kock 70 76, Teboho Sefatsa 73 73
147 - Steve Surry 76 71, Dwayne Basson 70 77, Grant Veenstra 74 73, Stefan Engell Andersen 70 77, Mark Fensham 74 73, Andrew Odoh 72 75, Mark Murless 75 72, Neil Schietekat 67 80, Justin Harding 65 82
148 - PH McIntyre 71 77, Ryan Tipping 73 75, Hennie du Plessis 71 77, Lyle Rowe 74 74, Vaughn Groenewald 71 77
149 - Breyten Meyer 73 76, Matthew Carvell 72 77, Heinrich Bruiners 71 78, Rourke van der Spuy 74 75
150 - Bryce Easton 76 74, Tyrone Mordt 74 76, Garth Mulroy 73 77, Theunis Spangenberg 71 79
151 - Jason Viljoen 74 77, Teaghan Gauche 75 76, N.J. Arnoldi 73 78, Colin Nel 69 82, Calvin Pearson 76 75
152 - Andrew Curlewis 74 78, MJ Viljoen 76 76, Derick Petersen 73 79, Joe Nawanga 79 73, Etienne Bond 76 76, Bryandrew Roelofsz 71 81, Arthur Horne 75 77, Roux Jeffery 79 73
153 - Thanda Mavundla 74 79, JJ Senekal 77 76, Shane Granger 70 83
154 - Werner van Niekerk 74 80, Johan van der Wath 76 78, Jeff Hopkins 73 81, Dayne Moore 68 86
156 - Russel Franz 76 80, Neal Herman 74 82
157 - CJ du Plessis 77 80, Nemanja Savic 72 85, Ruan Pretorius 73 84, Bryce Bibby 77 80
159 - Allan Versfeld 72 87
160 - Mikhail Tewary 81 79
162 - Daniel Hammond 77 85
163 - Drikus van der Walt 81 82
WD - Antonio Rosado 76 WD
