Altin van der Merwe birdied his closing four holes to take a narrow one stroke lead into the weekend of the SDC Open at Zebula Golf Estate & Spa.
The South African signed for a five under par round of 67 to reach 11 under par for the week, one shot clear of countrymen Nikhil Rama and Jason Roets, and Frenchman Sébastien Gros who share second on ten under par.
Van der Merwe, who turned professional at the end of 2024 after enjoying a stellar amateur career, will go in search of a maiden HotelPlanner Tour title this weekend, and was delighted with his blistering finish on day two in Limpopo.
“It was a bit different to yesterday, but due to the good finish I’m very pleased,” he said.
“I started off very rocky. I was a bit nervous but eventually my wife, who is caddying for me, told me to snap out of it. I still didn’t listen to her, but those last four birdies helped me a lot.
“I was actually standing on the par five sixth, my 15th hole, a little bit nervous, thinking about leaving the driver in the bag because I was scared of something going wrong. I took a hybrid and smashed it down there and made birdie.
“On the next hole I was trying to hit the middle of the green but pushed it towards the flag and had six foot for birdie, and I knew I was safe from there. Then on the last two holes I just went at the flags.”
Van der Merwe started on the tenth and parred his opening eight holes before firing an eagle at the par five 18th to move under par for the day. His first dropped shot of the week came on the fourth, but four consecutive gains from the sixth hole saw him edge ahead of Gros who had earlier set the clubhouse lead.
The 28-year-old, who made history in February last year by becoming the first men’s champion of the R&A’s inaugural Africa Amateur Championship, credited his success to an aggressive approach and says there will more of the same on moving day.
“Since the second day is gone and there’s no more cut, I’m pretty pleased be in the position I am,” he added. “There will be more aggressive golf moving forwards and hopefully the putter and the rest of my clubs play their part.
“I’ll still be conservative when I need to, but I’ll just try to make the right choices at the right time.”
Six players share fifth place on eight under par, including Irishman Liam Nolan, American Nick Carlson, Jaco van Zyl from South Africa, England’s George Bloor, Spaniard Lucas Vacarisas and Zimbabwean Benjamin Follett-Smith.
The third round of the SDC Open gets under way tomorrow at 6:23am, with Van der Merwe teeing off alongside Gros at 12:10pm.
