Cautious Kim holds on to King’s Cup lead

Dongkwan Kim didn’t have a practice round ahead of the Big Easy King’s Cup in Swaziland, and following his second round five-under-par 67 score on Wednesday, Kim credits his cautious approach for handing him the lead at Royal Swazi Spa.

“I arrived here late on Monday and didn’t have a practice round so I felt I was not prepared well,” Kim said. “I had no expectations and I think I played cautiously yesterday and today and that was the key to scoring well for me. I was going safe and not attacking anything.”

Kim had a birdie-laden second round where he made eight birdies, but he dropped three shots to take his score to five-under for the round and 12-under-par for the week. “I was putting well in both rounds but my plan is to play the same way. Hit it where I can see the ball, if I feel like I can attack the flag, then sure, but if not, I will just keep it safe as I have done.”

Hot on his heels is Jacques P de Villiers who also shot a five-under 67 to total 11-under-par for the tournament. While he expressed his unhappiness with how he played his front nine, it was on the back nine De Villiers feels he did well to place himself into contention ahead of the final round in Mbabane.

“I’m very happy with my golf today,” De Villiers said, “but I was a bit disappointed with my front nine. I didn’t play that nine very well, I had problems with my putter but I fixed that up and played solidly the back nine.”

De Villiers said he is excited for the weekend and that he feels his game is in a space where he can challenge for titles. “My form is really good at the moment, so I am really looking forward to the last two tournaments on the Big Easy. My putting has been getting better and better and my consistency with my irons too, so I feel good at the moment.”

Making some positive moves on Wednesday was NJ Arnoldi who carded a six-under-par 66 round to total 10-under and move to third on the leaderboard. He is followed by overnight leader Albert Venter on nine-under. Coert Groenewald on eight-under takes the fifth spot while Herman Loubser, Wynand Dingle and Francois Coetzee share the sixth position on seven-under-par for the tournament.

The final round promises to be an exciting affair, as only four shots separated the top eight players after moving day.