Irene — Dylan Mostert produced a top-class display of putting for a second day in a row as he took a two-stroke lead on 13-under-par on Saturday heading into the final round of the KitKat Group ProAm at Irene Country Club.
Mostert was just a shot off the lead after a brilliant 65 in the first round, and on Saturday he followed up with a marvellous 66, leaving him a couple of shorts clear of Keagan Thomas on 11-under after rounds of 66 and 67.
First-round leader Ryan van Velzen (70) is in a tie for third on 10-under-par with Louis Albertse (68).
The 23-year-old Mostert, a big-hitting former U.S. College golfer at Dalton State, said it was a hot putter which had made the difference for him so far at Irene CC.
“My mental game has been very good, I’m hitting it in the right spots and then putting well,” Mostert said. “I just seemed to have had the knack of reading the greens right.
“It feels like if you leave yourself in a bad spot on the green here, then it will be really tough. The greens are undulating and some of the putts are very quick and can go sideways.
“I actually haven’t hit the ball that well off the tee, but I have missed in the right spots and then my play has been very good from there,” Mostert said.
The Modderfontein Golf Club representative now has a wonderful opportunity to claim his first Sunshine Tour title in Sunday’s final round, having finished second in the Blue Label Challenge at Gary Player Country Club last October.
“It takes consistency over all three rounds to be successful, so I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing,” Mostert said. “It’s going to be important to stay calm and patient, and just let it happen.
“For tomorrow, I will try to stay neutral emotionally, just do what I’ve been doing. But I also need to keep pushing because you’re not going to win this tournament shooting level-par.
“So I’ll be trying to make birdies and just keep that putter rolling,” Mostert said.
MJ Viljoen and Madalitso Muthiya both fired wonderful six-under-par 66s on Saturday to join Malcolm Mitchell (69) and Ockie Strydom (68) in the tie for fifth place on nine-under.
SCORES:
131 - Dylan Mostert 65 66
133 - Keagan Thomas 66 67
134 - Louis Albertse 66 68, Ryan Van Velzen 64 70
135 - MJ Viljoen 69 66, Malcolm Mitchell 66 69, Madalitso Muthiya 69 66, Ockie Strydom 67 68
137 - Dean O'Riley 69 68, Jovan Rebula 69 68
138 - Kyle Barker 70 68, Herman Loubser 69 69, Estiaan Conradie 69 69
139 - Jason Smith 70 69, Jaco Prinsloo 70 69, Merrick Bremner 67 72, JJ Senekal 67 72
140 - Franklin Manchest 71 69, Dayne Moore 70 70, Rourke van der Spuy 69 71
141 - Rupert Kaminski 69 72, Albert Venter 76 65, Quintin Wilsnach 67 74, Combrinck Smit 70 71, Louis de Jager 72 69, Pieter Moolman 74 67, Jaco Van Zyl 71 70
142 - Michael Kok 71 71, Erhard Lambrechts 73 69, Stephen Ferreira 70 72, Trevor Fisher Jnr 73 69, Michael Palmer 73 69, Michael Hollick 70 72, Rhys West 69 73, Jean Hugo 70 72
143 - Keelan van Wyk 71 72, Heinrich Bruiners 73 70, Riekus Nortje 72 71, Richard Joubert 73 70, Wynand Dingle 71 72
Sunshine Tour