He may have closed his day with a double-bogey but Jordan Wessels still signed for a fine five-under 67 which increased his lead atop the South African Strokeplay Championship leaderboard to three strokes in round 2 on Wednesday.
It is often said that players find it tough to follow a low round with another the next day. Wessels clearly doesn’t subscribe to that philosophy. Beginning on the 10th, the Mooinooi member eagled the 11th before birdies at the 12th and 13th. A bogey at the 14th was but a minor stumble for the 19-year-old who turned in 31 after registering red numbers at the 17th and 18th.
After adding birdies at the 3rd and 5th, Wessels was on track to match or better his opening round 64 but ultimately finished at 67 for the day when he made a double-bogey at the par-4 9th.
Wessels’ two nearest challengers, France’s Noa Auch-Roy and South Africa’s Logan Leisher, matched their opening round scores of 67 to sit on 10-under par.
Mossel Bay’s front-nine was a productive one for the Frenchman who recorded a score of 4-under 32, featuring birdies at the 1st, 2nd, 5th and 7th. After bogeying both the 10th and 11th, Auch-Roy made amends with birdies at the 15th, 16th and 17th to ensure he has a realistic shot at victory heading into the final two rounds.
The same is certainly true of Leisher who fashioned a front-nine identical to Auch-Roy with birdies at the 1st, 2nd, 5th and 7th. He would birdie the 10th before a string of eight pars ensured he is within striking distance.
South Africa’s Sean Paxton sits in 4th-place on eight-under par after posting a second round 65 following a day one 71.
Photo credit: Ernest Blignault/Supershots
