Daniel van Tonder posted a bogey-free four under par round of 68 to extend his lead to two strokes at the end of the second day at the Limpopo Championship.
The 30-year-old led by a single stroke after the first round at Euphoria Golf Club but doubled his advantage on day two as he reached ten under par, with Norway’s Kristian Krogh Johannessen, his nearest challenger, two strokes back on eight under par with two holes of his second round to be completed on Saturday.
With five worldwide wins in the last eight months, van Tonder is in the form of his life and he hopes to continue his purple patch over the weekend.
“I’m very happy, I played solid,” he said. “I kept the bogeys off the scorecard, so that helps. Every birdie you make counts so I’m happy.
“The wind was blowing quite a bit this afternoon, it’s stronger than you think it is, but the wind this afternoon made the course longer than it actually is because some of the holes are into the wind.
"Yesterday, where I was hitting driver, gap wedge, today I was hitting driver, eight iron, so that is the difference between the two days.
“It’s 18 holes tomorrow. If I can come in with the lowest score of the day again tomorrow, it will help, and Sunday the same, and just try to keep it as simple as possible.”
The World Number 80 has his wife, Abigail, on the bag and he believes their mutual trust is a key factor to his success on the course.
“I think it’s all the hard work that makes me confident,” he said. “It’s not just me, it’s my wife on the bag as well.
“Both of us are very comfortable out there, enjoying it. I trust her, she trusts me and she gives me the distance and I hit it.”
The Limpopo Championship is the first event of the Challenge Tour's South African Swing, a series of three events co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour, and begins the season-long Road to Mallorca Rankings race.
Norwegian Johannessen is one man who will be looking to make a quick start to the Road to Mallorca and he is currently five under par through 17 second round holes, but will be required to play the final two holes on Saturday morning after play was suspended due to darkness.
South African quartet Jaco Prinsloo, Jake Roos, Tristen Strydom and MJ Viljoen currently share third place on seven under par, while countrymen Oliver Bekker and Roberto Lupini, Sweden’s Per Längfors and Scotsman Craig Howie are a shot further back on six under par in a tie for seventh spot.
The second round will resume at 6:45am local time at Euphoria Golf Club, with the third round beginning no earlier than 8:20am local time.
