Johannesburg - Tandi McCallum made two birdies and four bogeys on Thursday on her way to a two-over-par 76 and the 36-hole lead in the Sunshine Ladies Tour’s SunBet Cape Town Ladies Open at Royal Cape Golf Club.
It was a day of rapidly changing weather in the second round, but the overnight leader was able to navigate the conditions well enough to be one clear of Cara Gorlei, Thalia Martin and Nicole Garcia, who shared second on two-over-par overall.
“It was quite a mixed bag today,” said McCallum. “Conditions were very varied. It started off with a lot more rain than yesterday. There was still a bit of a north-wester, but not nearly as hard, so the rain was coming straight down, rather than sideways.
“But the course had a lot of rain overnight, so the ball stopped dead off the tee and on the greens. It was very much target golf, but it was playing quite heavy. Club selection was a lot more challenging today because the ball wasn’t flying as far. Then the clouds burnt off and the sun came out, so the ball started going a bit further and we had to adjust again for the changing conditions.
“I started swinging a little freer as all the rain gear came off, so the front nine and the back nine were two very different nines and you had to keep your wits about you.”
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The tale of two halves could be seen on McCallum’s scorecard, with three of her bogeys coming on the front nine within the first five holes. But there was only one dropped shot on the homeward nine, and, with her birdie on the 11th, that meant she came home in level-par to be one-over heading into the final round.
For McCallum, seeking her first title since her 2014 Sun International Challenge success, it’s a question of more of the same in better weather for the final round.
“I’m going to try and keep my strategy the same,” she said. “My core strategy is good. The weather is going to be very different tomorrow – sunny, and the south-easter will be blowing. It will be a different course for everybody. I’m going to play one shot at a time, as cliched as that may sound. But I’m going to have fun tomorrow, not get too serious, and see what comes.”
The SunBet Cape Town Ladies Open 2022 is well underway with the Pro-Am and first-round done, we're gearing up for round two. Take a look at some of the latest highlights. 📸 #SunBetLadiesOpen pic.twitter.com/Y4hnxntWoh
— SunBet Sports Betting (@SunbetSA) February 3, 2022
Of McCallum’s pursuers Gorlei, who led the first two rounds in last year’s event but was denied a maiden pro title by Manon Gidali. The French golfer defeated Gorlei as she holed a 25-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole.
Gorlei fired the best round on the day with her two-under-par 72 – one of just three rounds under par on Thursday – to put herself in a great position to have another shot at the title.
The trio led by Gorlei in second will start the final round one clear of Norway’s Maiken Bing Paulsen, Lejan Lewthwaite and reigning Investec South African Women’s Open champion Lee-Anne Pace, who is hunting a record fourth title in the Mother City.
South Africa’s top-ranked amateur Isabella van Rooyen took charge of the amateur challenge with a round of 77 that moved the GolfRSA National Squad member to 14th on 10-over. The Clovelly golfer sits two clear of Kim de Klerk from Mossel Bay, with Western Province’s Nina Grey a further two shots adrift.
Scores:
149 - Tandi McCallum 73 76
150 - Cara Gorlei 78 72, Thalia Martin (ENG) 74 76, Nicole Garcia 74 76
151 - Maiken Bing Paulsen (NOR) 78 73, Lee-Anne Pace 77 74, Lejan Lewthwaite 76 75
152 - Stacy Bregman 77 75
153 - Brittney-Fay Berger 82 71, Nadia van der Westhuizen 77 76
154 - Bonita Bredenhann (NAM) 80 74
157 - Florentyna Parker (ENG) 82 75, Jane Turner (SCO) 79 78
158 - Isabella van Rooyen (a) 81 77
159 - Larissa Du Preez 82 77, Ivanna Samu 79 80, Marion Duvernay (FRA) 83 76, Emily Laskin (USA) 85 74
160 - Lindi Coetzee 81 79, Kelsey Nicholas 80 80, Kim Williams 78 82, Kim de Klerk (a) 78 82, Zethu Myeki 77 83
161 - Julie Berton (FRA) 80 81, Tara Griebenow 80 81, Kirsty Mitchell (SCO) 83 78, Siddhi Kapoor (IND) 85 76
162 - Nina Grey (a) 84 78
163 - Lora Assad 81 82, Shawnelle de Lange 82 81
164 - Yolanda Duma 83 81
165 - Cassidy Williams 83 82
166 - Leontine Petit (a) 83 83
171 - Carey Dodds (a) 85 86, Lize-Mari Prinsloo (a) 86 85
172 - Kayla Saunders (a) 89 83, Grace Mitchell (CAN) 90 82
Missed Cut:
175 - Tara Niewoudt 91 84
RTD - Anne-Lise Caudal (FRA) 81 RTD
WDN - Madison Frerking (USA) WDN
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