Jayden Trey Schaper was keeping his feet firmly on the ground as he headed into the weekend just a shot off the lead at the South African Open hosted by the City of Johannesburg.
The 18-year-old is looking to become the first amateur winner of this event since 1959 and the first amateur to win on the European Tour since Shane Lowry lifted the Irish Open trophy in 2009.
Playing alongside Major Champion Louis Oosthuizen, Schaper made five birdies in six holes on the back nine of the Firethorn Course at Randpark Golf Club to catapult himself to ten under, just one behind halfway leader Tapio Pulkkanen.
And while Schaper knows that history may be beckoning over the next 36 holes, he insists he is going to approach it just like any amateur event.
"It's special to be up at the top of the leaderboard," he said.
"The way I see it is it's the same golf course, just a different field. I'm going to treat it the same as any amateur event or any event or normal round of golf.
"Obviously there will be a bit of nerves but I kind of enjoy them and I kind of feed off them so I'm just looking forward to starting the weekend.
"I'm just going to take it one shot at a time and see what happens, if the opportunity comes I'll grab it with both hands and try my best to take it.
"I've put myself in these positions before with amateur golf. It's the same golf course, the same 14 clubs in the bag, the same shots, there's just a few more people walking around watching."
