Nadia Van der Westhuizen (-9) has taken the lead of the Joburg Open after the second day. The 22-year-old South African golfer leads a tournament of the Ladies European Tour for the first time in her career after delivering a card of 68 strokes this Friday at the Modderfontain Golf Club course in Johannesburg.
Van der Westhuizen is a relatively unknown name on the Ladies European Tour. Indeed, this week is her third appearance on the circuit. So far she has developed all her budding career on the Sunshine Ladies Tour, the South African circuit, where she has achieved more than notable results, with two victories in 2022.
She won shortly after turning professional, so expectations for her career skyrocketed, especially after a brilliant amateur career, always without leaving South Africa. However, after these two victories her progress slowed down. So far, 2024 was not being her best year. Her best position to date, after six tournaments played, is a 14th at the Jabra last week.
In any case, she is still a very young golfer with a great journey ahead. Who knows if this Joburg Open will not be the tournament that changes her life. Last year she already did very well here, finishing in seventh place.
Van der Westhuizen has a one-stroke lead over Swiss Chiara Tamburlini (-8) and three over Aunchisa Utama (-6), a Thai player who finished in eighth place at the Magical Kenya Open that inaugurated the season on the LET and then settled her next two outings with a disqualification and a missed cut.
As for the Spanish, the name of the day is Teresa Díez Moliner (PAR). The golfer from Bilbao has delivered a card of 69 strokes, four under par, and has starred in the great comeback delivering the third best result of the day. She signed four birdies without mistake. Sensational. She has gone from yesterday’s 77 strokes, which placed her on the abyss of the cut to looking directly at the top 10, located at three under par. It is Teresa’s best round in 2024 and her first cut, after being left out in Kenya, Morocco and Australia. It’s her sixth weekend on the Ladies European Tour.
Higher up than Teresa are Luna Sobrón (-2) and Ana Peláez (-1). Both are still in the fight for victory, six and eight strokes off the lead, respectively. Luna has signed a par round of 73 strokes and Ana has made 72. The Malaga player managed to get an accumulated -4, looking into the eyes of the leadership, but a bad end of the round, with three bogeys on holes 14, 17 and 18, have slowed her climb.
Be that as it may, they must be counted on for the weekend. There are 36 holes left and they can still say a lot. Paz Marfá (+3), with a good round of 72 strokes, and Marta Martín (+4) also made the cut. The sieve closed at +5 and left out María Hernández, Marta Sanz, Harang Lee, Elena Hualde and Mireia Prat.
