A mischievous wind, granite greens, and very fast fairways on their flanks have turned the second day of the Nedbank Golf Challenge into a kind of US Open. A genuine US Open, not an Ali Express version. It is Africa’s major, and its creator, Gary Player, does his part to make it so. Today he enjoyed it like a child.
No bogey-free cards, only four under 70 strokes, barely fourteen under par, and 28 double bogey or worse results. The lead has dropped by one stroke compared to yesterday, and only 15 players remain under par. However, nothing compares to the triple trajectory goring at the end of the Gary Player Country Club. Holes 16, 17, and 18 have been a real nightmare, especially for those coming from behind. Of the last nine matches, a total of 27 players, only one, the Dane Thorbjorn Olesen, has recorded a one-under-par score in this stretch. And for that, he had to hole one from off the green on the 18th, from a position that smelled more like a bogey than anything else.
The conclusion to this scenario is that the tournament is beautiful, very tight, and anything can happen. We have more than forty players separated by only eight strokes with 36 holes to go. All are chasing the sole leader, the Frenchman Julien Guerrier (-5). It seems that the course change has not disrupted the impressive march of French golf at all. The Estrella Damm Andalucía Masters champion recorded the best round of the day today (68 strokes).
One stroke behind Guerrier are Ockie Strydom (-4) and Romain Langasque (-4), while two strokes back are Andy Sullivan, Johannes Veerman, Matthew Jordan, and Max Homa, undoubtedly one of the major victims of those last three holes. The American was leading after playing the 15th and ended up asking for the time, with two double bogeys on holes 16 and 17 and a miraculous par on the 18th, sinking a putt of about four metres from off the green.
Everyone has suffered, and of course, the Spaniards were no exception. Pablo Larrazábal (PAR) remains the best-placed after a round of 75 strokes. It was a rollercoaster with tragedy and glory in almost equal parts. He started with a painful three-putt for bogey and responded with an eagle on the 2nd, another eagle on the 2nd. From there, three birdies, a triple bogey, and four more bogeys, three of them on those fateful last four holes. Whatever happens, the grit of the Barcelona native will never cease to amaze us. Both the triple bogey on the 11th (lost the first ball off the tee and barely found the second) and the final bogey on the 18th were pure heart.
The rest of the Armada is over par. Ángel Hidalgo (+1), playing very well but heavily burdened by two mistakes that ended in double bogeys, scored 73 strokes, Jorge Campillo (+3), who hit one of the shots of the day, almost 140 metres to the flag on the 3rd hole and holed it for eagle, scored 72 strokes, and Nacho Elvira (+5) struggled more with a card of 76. Meanwhile, Adrián Otaegui (+3) scored 74 strokes.
Beyond the Spaniards, the French must be highlighted, with three players in the top 10 who have excelled when conditions became more difficult, Elvis Smylie (-1), one of the few still under par, or Robin Williams (PAR), the young South African who remains in the noble zone.
