It was a tough outing for South Africa’s 11-man contingent at the 153rd Open Championship, with just three players making the cut at Royal Portrush.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout led the charge early with a superb opening-round 67 to share the lead, but a second-round 73 in challenging conditions saw him tumble down the leaderboard. At two under overall, he heads into the weekend eight shots behind leader Scottie Scheffler and tied for 17th.
LIV Golf’s Dean Burmester posted back-to-back 71s to sit on level par at the halfway mark, tied 34th.
Meanwhile, PGA Tour rookie Thriston Lawrence ground out a second-round 70 to sneak inside the cut at one over, tied 52nd. It’s Lawrence’s fourth consecutive Open weekend, after finishing tie-fourth at Royal Troon last year.
REPORT: Scheffler storms into Open lead at Portrush
The rest of the South African field failed to cope with the tough Portrush conditions.
On debut, South African Open champion Dylan Naidoo ended on four over (tie-99th), while Shaun Norris and Aldrich Potgieter missed the cut at five over.
2010 Open winner Louis Oosthuizen slumped to six over, Darren Fichardt closed on seven over, Justin Walters on eight over, Daniel van Tonder on 14 over, and amateur Bryan Newman on 15 over.
Photo: Warren Little/Getty Images
Article Link: Only three SA golfers make Open cut