Moolman closes in on Vodacom Origins Wild Coast glory
Pieter Moolman (Photo by Tyrone Winfield/Sunshine Tour).
PORT EDWARD (KwaZulu-Natal) – The second round of the Vodacom Origins of Golf Wild Coast event saw much movement on the leaderboard but no change at the top as defending champion Pieter Moolman, drawing on all his happy memories of the Wild Coast Sun Country Club, backed up his 63 on the first day with a 66 on Saturday to extend his lead.
Moolman will go into the final round with a three-stroke lead over Ruan Korb, having weathered a testing back nine into the wind, after collecting four birdies on the front nine.
The 33-year-old Moolman shot a 62 in his last tournament at the Wild Coast Sun Country Club, his fantastic final-round effort lifting him to tied-fifth in the SunBet Challenge event here in July. And last year Moolman shot a 64 in the final round to win the Vodacom Origins of Golf event here in a playoff, while he was also the runner-up in the 2022 SunBet Challenge tournament on the Wild Coast.
The Benoni Lake golfer backed up his tremendous front nine as he was able to make eagle on the 441m par-five 12th.
“I had a lucky break on 12 because I didn’t hit a great tee-shot but I got a good bounce out of the car park. I then hit a lob-wedge to three feet,” a restrained Moolman said. “We always play golf to win and to pull it through tomorrow would make me really happy. But I will have to stick to the same game-plan tomorrow, just me playing the golf course the best I can.
“Obviously I’m happy with the position I’m in, especially since the wind was tougher today and it was more different. But Jacques Blaauw also shot 66 in our three-ball today and it helped to be able to feed off his momentum. I just tried to keep giving myself chances,” Moolman said.
Moolman did slip up after his eagle on the 12th with bogeys at the next two holes, when he misjudged the switching wind, but the hour’s golf that followed was practically faultless, apart from a couple of missed birdie opportunities.
Silver Lakes Country Club golfer Korb also struggled on the back nine, copying Moolman with an eagle on 12 but also dropping two shots. Korb also had a wonderful front nine though, going out in 31, as he also posted a 66 to finish on eight-under-par, three behind Moolman.
Five golfers were tied for third on seven-under-par – Craig Ross (68), Ruan de Smidt (67), Keelan van Wyk (67), Fredrik From (67) and Luke Brown (67).
Ricky Hendler, who was second just one stroke behind Moolman after the first round, could only shoot level-par 70 on Saturday and slipped into the tie for eighth place on six-under-par, five strokes behind Moolman, with Jaco van Zyl (67), Samuel Simpson (65), Jean-Paul Strydom (67) and Ruan Conradie (67).
SCORES:
129 – Pieter Moolman 63 66
132 – Ruan Korb 66 66
133 – Craig Ross 65 68, Ruan de Smidt 66 67, Keelan van Wyk 66 67, Fredrik From 68 65, Luke Brown 67 66
134 – Ricky Hendler 64 70, Jaco Van Zyl 67 67, Samuel Simpson 69 65, Jean-Paul Strydom 67 67, Ruan Conradie 67 67
135 – Jason Roets 68 67, Keenan Davidse 71 64, Heinrich Bruiners 68 67, Kyle De Beer 68 67
136 – Regan Steyn 69 67, Graham van der Merwe 69 67, Christiaan Burke 68 68, Herman Loubser 68 68, Jean Hugo 68 68, Simon du Plooy 69 67, Otto Van Buynder 69 67, Stals Swart 68 68, Jonathan Broomhead 70 66, Nikhil Rama 67 69, Hennie O’Kennedy 68 68
137 – Thabiso Ngcobo 69 68, Jacques Blaauw 71 66, Luke Jerling 67 70, Merrick Bremner 67 70, Jordan Duminy 69 68, Trevor Fisher Jnr 65 72, MJ Viljoen 68 69
138 – Franklin Manchest 68 70, Kyle Barker 68 70, Callum Mowat 67 71, Lyle Rowe 72 66, Wynand Dingle 67 71, Gerhard Pepler 65 73, Sentanio Minnie 70 68, Jacques P de Villiers 67 71, Malcolm Mitchell 67 71, Stefan Wears-Taylor 67 71, Albert Venter 67 71
139 – Dylan Naidoo 71 68, Gregory Mckay 67 72, Peter Karmis 67 72, Danie Van Niekerk 70 69, Christian Kriek 73 66, Therion Nel 69 70, Kirby Coe-Kirkham 71 68, Brandon Meads 72 67, Doug McGuigan 70 69, Jack Hawksby 70 69, James Mack 68 71
Missed the cut:-
140 – Matthew Spacey 69 71, Vaughn van Deventer 69 71, DK Kim 69 71, Rourke van der Spuy 73 67
141 – Jacob Oakley 70 71, Allister de Kock 69 72, Combrinck Smit 68 73, Ethan Smith 71 70, Rhys West 73 68, Alex Haindl 68 73, CJ du Plessis 74 67, Kyle McClatchie 72 69
142 – Terence Boardman 74 68, Sean Bradley 68 74, Marcel Steyn Scholtz 69 73, Austin Bautista 68 74, Colin Nel 74 68
143 – Werner Deyzel 73 70, Toto Thimba Jnr 77 66, Pierre Pellegrin 73 70, Trevor Mahoney 72 71, Shaahid Mahmed 68 75, Altin van der Merwe 72 71, Nick Cunningham 71 72, Jovan Rebula 69 74, Neil Schietekat 71 72, Tristin Galant 72 71, Robson Chinhoi 72 71, Christiaan Basson 72 71
144 – Danielle du Toit 74 70, Lindani Ndwandwe 73 71, Dayne Moore 69 75, Keagan Thomas 72 72, Gary Kemp 73 71, Pride Sembo 73 71, Jastice Mashego 72 72, Gabrielle Venter 75 69, Adam Breen 73 71
145 – Brittney-Fay Berger 71 74, LB Boshoff 70 75, Irvin Mazibuko 76 69, Hayden Griffiths 72 73
146 – Brandon Pieters 73 73, Slenda Sithebe 75 71, Brandon Gildenhuys 78 68, Lyle Pedro 73 73, Cara Gorlei 76 70, Keegan Mclachlan 73 73, Leon Vorster 74 72
147 – Haydn Porteous 72 75, Travis Ladner 74 73, Shaydon Johnson 73 74, Andre De Decker 75 72
148 – Ruan Groenewald 72 76, David Amm 73 75, Umar Davids 71 77, Conner Mackenzie 72 76, Estiaan Conradie 67 81
149 – Mohammad Rauf Mandhu 73 76, Leon Visser 76 73, Nadia van der Westhuizen 75 74, Stephen Ferreira 80 69
150 – Quintin Wilsnach 71 79, Astin Arthur 73 77, Jared Harvey 74 76
151 – Isabella van Rooyen 79 72, Janko van der Merwe 75 76, Keanu Pestana 74 77, Promise Sombreiro 73 78, Thanda Mavundla 73 78
152 – Gerard du Plooy 73 79, Paul Adam Chidale 74 78, James Pennington 79 73
153 – Steven Le Roux 75 78
157 – Christopher Long 82 75
159 – Kelsey Nicholas 76 83, Robert Mavundla 84 75
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