NATIONAL NEWS - Young guns Matthew Spacey and Bryce McCabe will take a two shot advantage into the final round of the IGT Tour’s Race to Q-School #8 after contrasting rounds carried them to the top of the leaderboard at Killarney Golf Club on Tuesday.
Just a day after McCabe took charge in the first round with an eagle at 15, a three from Spacey at the same par five rocketed the Dainfern pro into a share of the lead at three under 137.
Both players surrendered three shots, but Spacey turned level par courtesy of a trio of birdies in his first five holes. The 25-year-old from Dainfern also birdied 16 and solid pars at the closing holes saw him home in three-under-par 67.
“I drove the ball really well today, so I was in good position from the fairways and if you do that around this course, you’re going to hit it close a few times,” said the Tuks Sport Golf Academies player.
“I only missed one fairway and three greens today and that made all the difference. It wasn’t pretty on the front nine, to be honest. It was a bit of a struggle, but I hung in there and made the most of my chances on the back nine.
“I hit a good drive down the 15th fairway and a seven-iron to 20 feet and holed eagle putt and at 16, I hit two-iron through the fairway and a nine-iron stiff to set up the birdie putt. But I didn’t up-and-down to save par after I left it short at nine and the three-putt at 11 was annoying. The eagle and birdie combo and the two pars to finish turned an average round into a good one.
“There is a huge demand on accuracy off the tee at Killarney and I’m happy that I hit it well off the tee today. I didn’t make too many mistakes and that’s left me in a great position to target a second win this season. Hopefully I can keep it going.”
McCabe’s day, by comparison, was more of a grind.
He overturned a bogey start with a birdie at the second, gained another shot at the fifth, but bogeyed seven and nine to turn one over. The 23-year-old Wanna Be A Champion player stayed patient and received his just rewards with birdies at 14 and 16, but unfortunately a double bogey at 18 obliterated his two shot lead and he finished with a one over 71.
“Although I didn’t play anywhere near as well as I did on the first day, but I am pleased that I stayed patient because it could have got away from me on that front nine,” McCabe said. “Today was all about waiting for the good shots to come along, and fortunately they did later in the round.
“The double at the last was a blow, but I’ve put it behind me. I’m still in the running and that’s all I need to focus on in the final round.”
The leaders could come under fire from the quartet at one under, including Englishman Greg Blainey, Damian Naicker, Terence Boardman and Werner van Wyk.
Blainey offset three bogeys with four birdies for a 69, Boardman also eagled the 15th on his way to a 70, Race to Q-School Money List leader Naicker reeled in nine straight pars on the back nine for a 72 and Van Wyk finished with a four-birdie flurry for a 67 that rocketed him into the mix at one under.
Second Round Scores
All competitors RSA unless otherwise indicated and amateurs indicated as AMA
137 - Bryce McCabe 66 71, Matthew Spacey 70 67
139 - Terence Boardman 69 70, Gregg Blainey (ENG) 70 69, Damian Naicker 67 72, Werner Van Wyk 72 67
140 - Ruan Conradie AMA 70 70, Dean O'Riley 70 70, Coert Groenewald 71 69, Ivanna Samu 70 70
141 - Quintin Crause 70 71, Duane Keun 72 69, Carrie Park 69 72
142 - Andrew Van Der Knaap AMA 74 68, Ruhan Van Dijk AMA 71 71, Wayne Stroebel 74 68, Johary Raveloarison (MDG) 72 70, Jacques De Villiers 69 73, Stephan Erasmus AMA 72 70, Francesca Cuturi 69 73
143 - Shaun Barrett AMA 72 71, Stephan De Beer 72 71, Conway Kunneke 73 70, Juan Langeveld 70 73
144 - Ruan Korb AMA 72 72, Lejan Lewthwaite 73 71
145 - Michael Schutz 71 74, Johan Van Der Wath 75 70, Leon Visser AMA 72 73, Estiaan Conradie AMA 72 73, Paul De Beer 74 71
146 - Dylan Docherty 70 76, Andi Dill 75 71, Gareth Anderson AMA 70 76, Warrick Druian 74 72, David Ashley (ENG) 70 76, Thabang Simon 72 74, John McClean (NIR) 76 70
147 - Dongkwan Kim (KOR) 71 76, Richard Tsai AMA 71 76, Richard O'Donovan (IRE) 71 76, Philip Geerts AMA (ITA) 75 72, Nobuhle Dlamini (SWA) 73 74
148 - Hayden Griffiths AMA 74 74, CJ Levey 71 77, Michael Kok AMA 77 71
149 - Bryce Myburgh 78 71, Jason Ackerman AMA 75 74, Dwayne Coetzee 77 72
150 - Otto van Greunen 77 73, Teagan Moore 76 74, Kyle Barker 73 77
151 - Clinton Cheia 70 81
152 - Maritz Wessels 80 72, Mohammed Ismail AMA 75 77, Marco De Beer AMA 78 74
153 - Sean Coomer AMA 81 72, Tumie Motale 77 76
154 - Matt Wollmann (ZIM) 78 76
155 - Arno Pretorius AMA 79 76, Werner Lourens 74 81
156 - Alex Van Heerden AMA 83 73, Patrick Thompson 80 76, Phillip Montgomery 80 76, Shaun van Tonder 77 79
157 - Albert Visser AMA 76 81, Gary Jutzen AMA 83 74, Craigen Clough AMA 74 83
158 - Calvin Caldeira 77 81, Cameron Gunning 77 81
159 - Sam Metcalfe AMA 83 76, Hanko Bothma 79 80
162 - WM Coetzee AMA 77 85
163 - Lydon Charnley AMA 83 80
166 - Mae Cornforth 86 80
RTD - Ricardo Towell 72 RTD
DSQ - Jones Tolo 95 DSQ
ARTICLE: LALI STANDER
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