The third event of the HotelPlaneer Tour 2025 began this Thursday in Cape Town. It started with a member of the Armada making waves from the outset. The Navarrese Borja Virto (-5) has positioned himself high up on the leaderboard of the Cell C Cape Town Open in association with Honor after an opening round of 67 strokes, allowing him to finish the day in second place.
Virto arrived at Royal Cape Golf Club after two solid weeks in which he managed to make the cut, but two insufficient weekends prevented him from moving closer to the top positions on the leaderboard. Nevertheless, he is currently in 30th place in the annual ranking. At this moment, he would play the Mallorca Final, although there is still a long way to go. It’s still early to make predictions, but Virto wants to fight in South Africa for his third victory on the circuit. The first in almost ten years.
His great second place was built on solidity and calmness to face a challenging day. The wind made its presence felt in Cape Town with great intensity. A day to arm oneself with patience and not seek more than what the day allows. Six birdies and a solitary bogey to be second.
In the first nine holes, Borja focused on understanding and withstanding the gusts of wind. A ten-metre purito granted him his first birdie of the day on the sixth hole of the course. From the eleventh hole onwards, Virto’s round took off with four birdies and a bogey in eight holes: “I like playing in the wind and I was very solid. I knew how to hold on at the beginning and played very well on the back nine, hitting some very good irons,” he explained to Ten Golf after completing his first 18 holes. So much so that he had good eagle chances on the eleventh and sixteenth. On the last hole of the day, he left the birdie set up after another great iron shot.
Daniel Van Tonder (-3) continues to impress. The South African is looking to become the first player in history to win three consecutive tournaments on the circuit and thus make a grand return to the DP World Tour. He started with a round of 69 strokes, allowing him to comfortably settle among the top ten at the start of the tournament. The buffalo’s charge is long. We’ll see if he can maintain the pace for three more days. With Daniel, anything is possible.
Tied with Borja Virto is Van Tonder’s half-brother, Malcom Mitchell (-5). He shares kinship with the double champion at the start of this year. It’s all in the family, and they are enjoying a sweet moment. At the top of the leaderboard is Filippo Celli (-6). In the afternoon session, the Italian delivered a card of 66 strokes, propelling him to the solo lead.
On the other hand, Lucas Vacarisas and Sebas García (-1) have positioned themselves well at the start of the event. Rounds of 71 strokes allow them to be among the top thirty of the tournament and face Friday with room to play over the weekend. Both missed the cut last week and are looking to make amends with a good result in Mandela’s land.
The rest of the Spaniards present in South Africa will need to step up in the second round. Víctor Pastor (+2), Quim Vidal (+3), Adri Arnaus (+4) are looking to climb positions this Friday to have a chance to play over the weekend in Cape Town. Santi Tarrio (+7) will need to fly very low in the second round of competition. The provisional cut is currently at one over par.
