South Africa’s Hennie du Plessis came through a marathon 27 holes on Saturday to lead the Joburg Open and give himself a chance at a maiden DP World Tour title for the second week in succession.
Du Plessis had to complete the suspended second round on Saturday morning, and finished six shots off the lead. Then he signed for an incredible 62 in his third round – including a back nine of 29 and five successive birdies from the 10th – to lead on 14 under par.
“It was nice, but I’m pretty tired now. I’m also a bit sick, so I’m looking forward to relaxing a bit now,” said Du Plessis, who finished second in last week’s Investec South African Open.
The man who won that tournament, Casey Jarvis, is amongst his nearest challengers on 12 under par. Jarvis signed for a 64 to join the English trio of former Joburg Open champion Dan Bradbury (64), Alex Fitzpatrick (64) and Brandon Robinson Thompson (70) in joint second place.
And American Patrick Reed remains a threat at six shots off the lead.
But Du Plessis clearly found something on his back nine on Saturday that will make him hard to catch on Sunday.
“I got it going and I’m very pleased with the way I’m striking it and putting. It was nice. I struggled to get going on the front nine and find some momentum, and then I found something on the back nine. The birdie on 10 just started the momentum for me,” he said.
Du Plessis has been in incredible form ever since he came back from injury, and has a win and two runners-up finishes in his last six events on the Sunshine Tour.
“I took my time coming back. I was healthy after about 15 months and then I spent three months training hard. I went to the gym and I worked on my short game. I think it’s important when you’re out for that long that you keep doing what you can. I’ve been playing well now for a while, and if you get that chance you just need to keep riding that wave.”
SCORES
196 – Hennie du Plessis 66 68 62
198 – Alex Fitzpatrick 67 67 64
198 – Dan Bradbury 64 70 64, Casey Jarvis 67 67 64, Brandon Robinson Thompson 66 62 70
200 – Adrian Otaegui 67 67 66
200 – Nathan Kimsey 64 69 67, Jack Hawksby 66 66 68
201 – Daniel van Tonder 67 68 66
201 – David Ravetto 66 67 68
202 – Jason Scrivener 71 66 65
202 – Justin Harding 69 67 66, Jacob Olesen 65 72 65, Patrick Reed 69 68 65, Jamie Rutherford 65 70 67, Ockie Strydom 67 68 67, Jayden Schaper 64 70 68, Luke Brown 66 67 69
203 – Ross Fisher 67 69 67
203 – Zander Lombard 69 68 66, Joost Luiten 67 69 67, Cameron Adam 67 69 67, Marcel Siem 69 67 67, Marcus Armitage 67 68 68, Ryggs Johnston 69 65 69, Louis Albertse 68 65 70, Sean Crocker 66 65 72
204 – Bernd Wiesberger 71 66 67
204 – Joe Dean 70 67 67, Kota Kaneko 70 67 67, Ryan Van Velzen 67 69 68, Kieran Vincent 65 72 67, Ben Schmidt 68 69 67, Julien Guerrier 70 68 66, Connor Syme 71 68 65, Ruan Korb 68 66 70, Jordan Gumberg 67 67 70, Maximilian Steinlechner 64 70 70
205 – Brandon Stone 68 68 69
205 – Allen John 70 68 67, Wilco Nienaber 65 70 70, Jorge Campillo 68 70 67, Todd Clements 68 66 71, Sebastian Garcia 67 72 66, Hugo Townsend 65 67 73
206 – Christiaan Burke 66 71 69
206 – Jacques Kruyswijk 68 69 69, Pieter Moolman 69 67 70, Neil Schietekat 70 68 68, Angel Ayora 64 71 71, Jaco Prinsloo 67 68 71, Eddie Pepperell 70 68 68, JJ Senekal 68 71 67
207 – Jean Hugo 71 66 70
207 – Richard Sterne 68 68 71, Romain Langasque 67 71 69, David Law 67 71 69, Shubhankar Sharma 66 72 69, Joel Girrbach 69 69 69, Ewen Ferguson 67 72 68
208 – Darius van Driel 65 73 70
208 – Herman Loubser 70 69 69, Estiaan Conradie 69 70 69, Stals Swart 70 69 69, Jovan Rebula 69 70 69
209 – Richie Ramsay 67 70 72
209 – Robin Williams 68 70 71, James Morrison 69 70 70, Alejandro Del Rey 70 69 70, Angel Hidalgo 69 70 70
210 – Dylan Frittelli 70 69 71
210 – Sam Bairstow 69 70 71
211 – Ivan Cantero 71 68 72
211 – Martin Vorster 68 71 72
Article Link: Du Plessis lines up for Joburg victory