Filippo Celli will take a one-shot lead into the weekend of the Cell C Cape Town Open in association with Honor after maintaining his position at the top of the leaderboard on day two.
The Italian entered the second round with a one-shot advantage and after carding a five under par round of 67 he moved to 11 under par, one ahead of Spaniard Borja Virto in second.
The 24-year-old was delighted to take advantage of the benign early morning conditions at the historic Royal Cape Golf Club, however he is not getting carried away with two rounds still left to play in Cape Town.
“I’m very happy because my game was very solid today,” he said. “Hopefully I will continue with the same mindset heading into the weekend and remain patient throughout.
“Yesterday was tough but this morning was a bright and sunny day. It was a perfect morning for golf and I did a good job. I’ve only played two rounds so the job is certainly not done. I have two more rounds, and I have to focus on myself and then see where I finish on Sunday.
“The course is very different this week and you have to be very accurate off the tee because it is so tight.”
Celli, who won the Silver Medal at the 2022 Open Championship, has been pleased to see his game trending in the right direction again after losing his DP World Tour playing privileges last season.
“My game is good right now and I’m feeling very confident,” he said. “Golf is tough because it doesn’t always go how you planned, and you can quickly find yourself in a negative run of form.
“I’m trying to stay in the present and take it tournament by tournament. If I can continue to play like this, I think I will be up towards the top of the Road to Mallorca Rankings at the end of the year.”
Road to Mallorca Number One Daniel van Tonder carded a five under par round of 67 to move into a share of third place alongside his brother-in-law Malcolm Mitchell on eight under. Van Tonder, who won the opening two events of the 2025 Road to Mallorca, is targeting automatic promotion to the DP World Tour with a third consecutive victory this week.
Frenchman Sébastien Gros set a new course-record with a sensational 12 under par round of 60, an incredible 20-shot difference from his opening round of 80, and he now sits in a share of 27th on four under.
