Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Turkish delight as Van Zyl stays ahead
Second day 69 keeps Dainfern on top of the leader board
IT wasn’t nearly as good as his sensational 11-under-par 61 in Thursday’s first round, but a 69 yesterday in round two of the Turkish Airlines Open meant Jaco van Zyl was able to hold onto his overnight lead in this $7million event.
“It was really nice to shoot 61, but the golfing gods had something else in store for me today. I hit some quality shots, made some putts but just went a bit quiet on the back nine.”
The sweet-swinging South African’s 14-under 130 total at the halfway mark leaves him two clear of English duo Richard Bland (65) and Chris Wood (66) on 132, France’s Victor Dubuisson ( 64) and Paraguay’s Fabrizo Zanotti (66) are next best on 133, while Rory McIlroy and another Frenchman, Alexander Levy, lurk on 134.
Van Zyl started his round yesterday like he left off on Thursday – making birdies. Starting at the 10th he picked up shots at holes 11, 13, 15, 17 and the first. So every other hole was a birdie, and at that stage he had an eight- shot lead. But the front nine at the Montgomerie Maxx Royal Golf Club is a lot more demanding than the back nine and while the 36-year-old was dropping shots at 4 and 8 en route to the clubhouse, the likes of Bland and Wood were making merry on the other loop.
“I hit a lot of quality shots on my first nine,” said the Dainfern professional. “And then I made a great birdie at number one. So I had a big lead at that stage but at the fourth hole, a par-5, I had 267 (yards) to clear the water in a bid to reach the green with my second shot.
“I thought I hit a beauty but at that stage the wind was swirling a bit, and caught my ball and I landed up in the drink. That cost me a bogey six then at the (par-3) eighth the breeze was difficult to judge which put a little doubt in my mind and I made a bad swing with my seven-iron and again ended up in the water.”
To his credit, after dropping out he hit a beautiful recovery shot that ran up next to the cup to enable him to avoid what could easily have been a double-bogey.
“Holes 5 – a long par-3 – 6, 7, 8 and 9 make for a really strong finish. Six and seven are long and tough par-4s with sloping greens and I did well to par them while at five I hit a fantastic two-iron 230 yards into the wind to make sure of par,” he said.
“Overall, I wasn’t too anxious out there and enjoyed the moment. I took every shot as it came – 69 isn’t a bad score to follow that 61 – and it’s an honour to be in this position in a field of 78 quality players who have all worked hard to be here.
“It was really nice to shoot 61, but the golfing gods had something else in store for me today. I hit some quality shots, made some putts but just went a bit quiet on the back nine.”
Van Zyl, of course, had surgery to both knees early in 2014, resulting in him being out of golf for 10 months in all.
“Lying on the couch for a year, you don’t know what to expect. So being in the position that I am now, after what I went through, I’ll take it.”
A 13- time winner on the Sunshine Tour, Van Zyl has yet to win on the European Tour but that could be just 36 holes away. “Winning is winning at the end of the day,” he says. “It’s just how comfortable you feel and I’m really comfortable where I am right now,” he added.
Of the other South Africans in this no- cut tournament Thomas Aiken (72 yesterday) is on 140, Trevor Fisher jr (71) on 141 and Charl Schwartzel (71) on 142.