Liam Grehan is gearing up for 36 holes on Saturday after ending his streak of missed cuts at the Sunshine Tour’s Stella Artois Players Championship at Randpark Golf Club, but Rowan Lester missed out.
Grehan made a bright start to his maiden Sunshine Tour campaign, posting a tie for ninth in his fourth start, but that was the final event before the summer break and when the tour resumed nine weeks later, he found the going tougher, making two cuts in a row but then embarking on an eight-long ‘MC’ streak.
An opening round of level-par at Randpark in the Johannesburg suburbs left him on the outside looking in, but a three-under 68 in round two was enough to see him through, but only just.
Teeing off round two on the 10th, he started fast with birdies on each of his opening two holes – both par-4s – and then added two more back-to-back on the par-5 14th and par-3 15th, but a bogey on the 17th killed the momentum and he followed with 10 straight pars to make it to the clubhouse at -3 and ended the day tied for 48th with the top 60 and ties advancing.
With severe weather expected on Sunday, tournament officials made the decision to have players play 36 holes on Saturday, so Grehan is in for a long day but knows that he can make a big move up the leaderboard if he gets it going.
Lester, who’d missed the cut in just two of his last 11 starts, started the day two ahead of his fellow Irishman, but bogeyed two of his first three holes to leave himself an uphill task. A birdie on six improved his chances, but a bogey on 13 left him needing to play the final five in three-under to make the cut.
Back-to-back birdies on 15 and 16 gave him a chance, but he couldn’t find the all-important third birdie over the closing two and missed the cut by the minimum.
Deon Germishuys will take a one-shot lead into a final day that will test the resolve of every professional in the field.
Germishuys signed for a 66 on Friday to lead on 12-under-par, despite a double-bogey on his card.
His nearest challenger is Karabo Mokoena who posted a 69 to end the day on 11-under. Oliver Bekker and Pieter Moolman are both well-placed on 10-under-par following respective second rounds of 65.
“We’re playing 36 holes on Saturday due to the expected bad weather, so it’s going to be a long day. But I’m excited. It’s nice to be in this position and give myself an opportunity again. My game is starting to feel better, and I’m just going to go out and enjoy it and try to play the best golf I can,” Germishuys said.
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