Amateurs miss BMW South African Open Cut
South Africa's Kyle McClatchie
(BGU Photo)
EKURHULENI, South Africa (January 14, 2017) -- When
BMW South
African Open second round play resumed Saturday
morning all South
Africa amateurs Kyle McClatchie and Marco Steyn could
do was sit and await their fates. Both players finished
their second rounds Friday
at Glendower Golf Club even-par and tied for 68th but
thunder and lightening forced the conclusion of the
round to be suspended until Saturday morning.
Hovering around the cut line, the two were forced to
watch on as they unfortunately finished one-
stroke off the 1-under or better 36-hole cut.
Among those missing the cut at even-par are two-
time
British Open winner Ernie Els and 2014 Ryder Cup
clincher Jamie Donaldson.
McClatchie fell back to level for the tournament
after beginning Friday 1-under. The day got off to a
rocky start as McClatchie went bogey-birdie-bogey to
begin his round and drop to even-par. Following six
consecutive pars McClatchie dropped another stroke
with a bogey on No. 10 and it wasn't until the final hole
did the 2016 Boland Amateur Open winner find another
birdie.
Despite a 7th hole double-bogey Steyn made
sizable move up the leaderboard on day two and went
from a tie for 94th at 2-over and into the tie for 68th, a
leap
of 28 spots. Steyn was able to overcome the double-
bogey and an additional bogey with birdies on Nos. 2, 5,
10, 11 and 15.
In 2016 Steyn reached the semifinals in the
Northern Amateur Open and South African Amateur
while also sharing fourth at the Cape Province Amateur
and Central Gauteng Amateur Open.
Here is a look at how the rest of the amateurs
fared in the first two rounds:
Jovan Rebula (T101, +3)
Philip Geerts (T111, +4)
Juran Dreyer (T129, +6)
Craig Ross (T129, +6)
Theunis Bezuidenhout (T140, +7)
Darin De Smidt (T148, +10)
Dylan Naidoo (T154, +11)
ROUND ONE RECAP
South
Africa's own Kyle McClatchie is the low amateur after
the first round of the BMW South African Open thanks to
a 1-under 71. McClatchie is currently tied for 43rd place
but at the same time only five-strokes off the first round
6-under pace set by South African's Keith Horne and
Trevor Fisher Jr.
After parring the opening hole at Glendower Golf
Club, McClatchie birdied the 2nd and 8th holes to reach
2-under. However, he gave those shots back and more
with a
9th hole double-bogey and back-to-back bogeys on 10
and 11. Now at 2-over McClatchie was forced to scratch
his way
back into the red with 12th and 13th hole birdies and
then a round capping birdie on the 18th hole. The 1-
under 71 that McClatchie put together was three-
strokes better than fellow countrymen and two-time
Champion Golfer of the Year Ernie Els.
Here is a look at how the rest of the amateurs
fared in the first round:
Jovan Rebula (T77, +1)
Marco Steyn (T96, +2)
Theunis Bezuidenhout (T96, +2)
Philip Geerts (T112, +3)
Darin De Smidt (T112, +3)
Dylan Naidoo (T134, +5)
Craig Ross (T147, +7)
Juran Dreyer (T155, +9)