Second 66 hands Rushton slim lead in Krugersdorp

Matthew Rushton will take a slender one-stroke lead into the final round of the Betway Big Easy Tour event held at Krugersdorp Golf Club, thanks to a near-perfect six-under-par 66 in Wednesday’s second round.

It was a second successive 66 for the Erinvale Golf Club player after he signed for a similar score in the opening round of this 54-hole tournament. That gave him a one-shot cushion over local favourite and overnight leader, Simon Du Plooy.

“I’d say scoring conditions-wise and weather-wise it was a bit easier today,” he said. “But I felt like my quality was just as good, so it’s quite fitting to have the same score again.

“The wind was, obviously, a loot less today and the weather was beautiful. In terms of how I played; not a lot different, to be honest. I felt like my quality was just as good. I may have made a couple less putts, but I think that on both days we were quite good, quality-wise.”

His solitary bogey – made on nine – was dwarfed by the five birdies and the eagle he made en route to the summit of the leaderboard. It was never without a scare, however, as Du Plooy – who had a decent local crowd cheering him on – kept applying pressure.

Teeing off last in the afternoon, Du Plooy wasted little time in getting about his business. He birdied the first four holes of his round as he looked set to asset his dominance on a setting he knows well. An unwanted bogey visited his card on the par-fourth fifth but he recovered swiftly, birdieing the ninth and the 10^th.

Drops on 13 and 16 took from those gains and Du Plooy signed for 69 and surrender the lead he’d held overnight, albeit by the smallest of margins.

It was Graham van der Merwe, however, who made the biggest move on Wednesday. His eight-under-par 64 catapulted him to third on the leaderboard, on nine-under for the tournament and within arms-reach of the top. He had 10 birdies and two drops on his card.

Following up on an even-par opening round this week, Nicholaus Frade found some form in the second round, coming in with a spectacular seven-under-par 65 to take fourth spot on the leaderboard, giving himself an opportunity at the title this week.

Member of the Papwa Sewgolum Class, Toto Thimba Jnr shot a 68 to get to five-under and into a three-way share of the fifth spot, seven strokes off the pace. He ties that position with Glenvista’s Louis Liebenberg and England’s Joe Knox.