Three-way tie at the top as it heats up in CapeTown
Santiago Tarrio and Neil Schietekat yesterday both posted five-under-par rounds of 67 to share the Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open lead with Jacques Blaauw on 11-under-par.
Blaauw entered the third round with a share of the lead and, despite a double bogey on the par three 15th hole, he enters today’s final day tied at the top of the leaderboard thanks to a three-under round of 69 at Royal Cape Golf Club.
The leading trio have a two-stroke cushion to Spain’s Emilio Cuartero Blanco, Sweden’s Mikael Lindberg and New Zealander Daniel Hillier, who all share fourth place on nine-under-par. Spain’s Tarrio, who finished seventh on the Road to Mallorca Rankings in 2020, will go in search of his maiden Challenge Tour title today after plotting his way around the intricate Royal Cape layout.
“I didn’t play really well but I made important up and downs and made some long putts,” he said.
“It is a very nice course. It is an old-style course. The fairways are narrow and you need to put the ball in the right position to access the tough pins. This course suits my game but I played with a new driver and missed more fairways than I would’ve liked.
“We played near Johannesburg last week and it is so different to here. You see the animals on the course in Modimolle but it is so nice here. The beach is so nice, Cape Town is a cool city and I like it.”
South Africa’s Schietekat finished in a tie for ninth place at last week’s Limpopo Championship, the first of three co-sanctioned events by the Challenge Tour and the Sunshine Tour, and he was pleased with the way he scrambled his way to the top of the leaderboard in Cape Town.
Blaauw’s name has been at the top of the leaderboard since he took an early lead on day one in the Mother City and he is relishing today’s final group battle.
“The form I came in with, I didn’t expect much but, like I said earlier in the week, I’ve got some good memories coming back to the Cape and I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” he said. “It’s going to be a good battle.”
Scotland’s Ewen Ferguson and Belgian Christopher Mivis took full advantage on moving day as they both carded five-under-par rounds of 67 to leap into a tie for seventh place on eightunder-par, just three shots off the lead.
Ferguson’s fellow Scot, Craig Howie, is in a tie for 36th after a third-round 69 took him onto threeunder for the tourney.
The low round of the day went to Switzerland’s Benjamin Rusch, who took just 29 shots coming in to post a seven-under round of 65 to sit tied 13th, four shots off the lead.