Jonathan Caldwell is in solo third position after day two at the Challenge Tour’s Nelson Mandela Bay Championship and he’s joined at the weekend by Dermot McElroy and Gary Hurley.
After an opening 66 in prime scoring conditions, the wind was due to pick up considerably at Humewood Golf Club in Port Elizabeth, South Africa and as one of the early starters, Caldwell, who started the day five back, knew that something similar would see him charge up the second-round leaderboard.
But he went one better than yesterday, birdieing four of his first five holes and then adding another four on the back nine which played into the strong breeze which blew from the opposite direction to day one. A bogey on the par-3 12th was his only dropped shot on the day and his seven-under daily tally saw him reach the clubhouse at -13, ending the day one behind dual leaders Bjorn Åkkeson of Sweden and South African Keenan Davidse.
“Yeah, delighted,” he said afterwards, “delighted to be finished as well. The wind’s getting up now, the last few holes. So it’s going to be a tough afternoon, so I’m happy to be in the house. It was absolutely howling towards the end there, so had to adapt.
“It was nice and calm early on, and then it just picked up gradually throughout the day, but, you know, we played practise rounds in this wind, so we kind of know what to expect.”
Caldwell has missed the cut in his two previous starts this season, but there’s little sign of that thus far this week and, unsurprisingly, he’s not planning any change in strategy as he looks to a late tee time on moving day.
“Oh, same thing,” he replied when asked what the game plan would be. “Try and find the fairways and give myself some looks on the greens. I’ve pulled some nice putts the first two days. If I can keep that going then I should be right there come Sunday.”
McElroy and Hurley are both well back having made the cut on the number at -4, but with a single-tee start on Saturday, both players will have the opportunity to pick up strokes on the leaders as the wind will once again pick up considerably over the afternoon.
McElroy, who opened with a three-under 69, got it to -5 on the front nine, and after a birdie and a bogey, was still there on the 17th tee but a disappointing par-5 bogey dropped him back to -4 and a tie for 49th.
Hurley, who shot 71 on day one, looked set for another missed cut after a double-bogey on the 14th dropped him back to +1 for the day and level-par overall. Needing something special over the final four holes, he duly delivered, wiping out the double with an eagle at the next and then reeled off back-to-back birdies to pick up the four strokes he needed in the space of three holes. A par at the last confirmed his weekend tee time, making it three of six Irish players to make the cut.
Sadly, John Murphy missed by the minimum despite making five birdies, with a costly double-bogey on the 15th – his sixth – doing the damage. Ronan Mullarney and Conor O’Rourke finished on +4 and +5 respectively, but O’Rourke can at least take the consolation of knowing he’s made his first hole-in-one in competition during Thursday’s opening round.
South African Davidse took advantage of the benign early morning conditions to post a six under par round of 66 and set the target at 14 under par, before Swede Åkesson battled the gusty afternoon winds to card a five under 67 and join him at the top of the leaderboard.
Davidse endured a difficult start to the week following the passing of both his coach and auntie, however he was determined to make them proud in Port Elizabeth.
“I’m very emotional this week because my coach passed away two days ago from a stroke and my aunt also passed away three days ago,” he said.
“I’m not saying that’s the reason I’m playing well but I have two special angels looking over me and that’s my motivation for the week. I’ve been struggling very badly and it was also my son’s birthday on Monday so I definitely have extra incentive this week.
“Links golf is tough and you need a little bit of luck around here. I enjoy the creative aspect and I love hitting it low in the wind. It’s important to stay out of bunkers and predict which way the wind is blowing.”
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