Tom McKibbin has booked himself a weekend tee time at the DP World Tour and Sunshine Tour co-sanctioned Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek in South Africa, but a brace of late bogeys saw him slip down the leaderboard.
An opening three-under 69 had the Holywood youngster inside the top 20 at the conclusion of day one and things looked promising when he birdied the second hole on day two, but bogeys on four and nine with another birdie on five saw him make the turn at level-par for the day.
He’d picked up another stroke by the time he reached the 16th courtesy of birdies on 10 and 15 and a bogey on 13, and with two par-5s to come, he’d have fancied his chances of making it to -6 which would’ve been just a shot outside the top 10. Alas, a bogey on the par-5 16th was costly, and he followed it up with another on the par-4 17th and parred the closer for a one-over 73 that knocks him back to T44 at -2.
His birdie on the fifth was inches away from being even better though, almost two-years to the week since he made his last hole-in-one in one of his first tournament starts as a DP World Tour pro.
“That one was very close – a couple of inches,” McKibbin said during his on-course interview. “I actually just said to my caddie I haven’t had a hole-in-one since my last one in South Africa so there must be something about par-3s here that I quite like.”
HOW?! 🤯@tommckibbin8 comes within an inch of the first ace of the week! #DunhillChamps pic.twitter.com/7h1rSSGkmu
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) December 13, 2024
Making his first start as a full DP World Tour member, Purcell had lots of ground to make up after a disappointing 75 on day one, and he made the task even tougher when he bogeyed the first on day two. But an eagle-three on the second was just what the doctor ordered, and he got to -2 for the round with a birdie on five, before slipping back to level with back-to-back bogeys on eight and nine.
His second eagle of the day came on the 13th and a birdie on 15 gave him a real fighting chance over the closing stretch as he found himself inside the cutline for the first time. Sadly, a bogey on 16 left him needing at least a birdie on the last and, playing aggressively, went on to make a bogey-six that would eventually see him two shots the wrong side of the mark.
Swede Marcus Kinhult leads the way after backing up his opening 65 with a second-round 68 to post -11 and open up a three-shot lead over South Africa’s own Dean Burmester, with Englishman Dale Whitnell and Italian Andrea Pavan alongside.
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