Darren Fichardt and Benajmin Follett-Smith share the lead going into Sunday’s final round of the Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open at Royal Cape Golf Club, and each with a strong desire to turn the lessons of last year into an early victory in 2023.
Fichardt’s 62 in beautiful weather on Saturday equalled the course record of Andrew Georgiou, but with placing in effect. Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin also shot 62 in this tournament last year, and also with placing.
It was a magnificent round in which Fichardt was seven under through his first seven holes as he went out in 29, and it lifted the veteran campaigner to 13 under par overall. He was later joined there by Follett-Smith, the 2019 champion in this tournament, who signed for a 67 on Saturday.
They are one stroke clear of Dylan Mostert who carded a third-round 68, while Manuel Elvira and Jaco van Zyl ended the day on 11 under par.
Fichardt was delighted with a performance which he feels accurately reflects just how comfortable he feels with his game at present.
“I started with three consecutive birdies and I just carried that momentum and was in the zone. Then after the two birdies and an eagle I just felt like, ‘Here we go’. I had that tunnel vision. The swing was good and I knew if I was within 15 feet of the hole on the green I was putting well enough to have a chance. I just felt very comfortable and just let it happen,” he said, giving himself the perfect start to a year in which he has high hopes for his game.
“I had a very long year last year. I played 34 events out in Europe and travelled a lot and midway through the year I was burning out. But I learnt a lot about myself. I almost like to call it Summer Camp because I fixed a lot of areas of my game where I was struggling. I took a long break now in December and just carried that technique over to this year with a fresher mind. It’s pretty exciting. I’m looking forward to what lies ahead.”
Follett-Smith has been on a similar search for improvement and is looking forward to testing himself as part of the final group on Sunday.
“I’m very pleased with the way I played today. There was no wind so it was easier to attack the flags, and then I putted really well. I was trying to figure out why Darren was looking so cheerful on the eighth hole and then I found out he was seven under par through seven holes. I think that realisation pushed us all along. The better everyone is playing, the better you have to play. I like this golf course. You just need to have a good short game here and usually that’s where I’m strong,” he said. – Michael Vlismas
Scores:
203 – Darren Fichardt 70 71 62, Benjamin Follett-Smith 68 68 67
204 – Dylan Mostert 71 65 68
205 – Manuel Elvira 66 72 67, Jaco Van Zyl 70 65 70
206 – Conor Purcell 68 73 65, Daniel O’Loughlin 70 69 67, Velten Meyer 68 71 67, Martin Vorster 70 69 67, Ashley Chesters 69 67 70
207 – Luca Filippi 74 67 66, Pieter Moolman 70 70 67, Sam Bairstow 71 69 67, Bradley Bawden 67 71 69
208 – Craig Howie 76 68 64, Ugo Coussaud 69 74 65, Jared Harvey 67 75 66
209 – Renato Paratore 73 71 65, Jayden Schaper 72 71 66, Benjamin Rusch 76 67 66, Lyle Rowe 72 69 68, Brandon Stone 68 72 69, Alfie Plant 68 72 69, Hennie Otto 70 70 69, JJ Senekal 70 69 70, Derek Ackerman 70 69 70, Ivan Cantero Gutierrez 71 68 70
210 – Mateusz Gradecki 71 72 67, Andrea Pavan 72 71 67, Niklas Regner 71 71 68, Jamie Rutherford 70 70 70, Borja Virto 73 65 72
211 – David Boote 69 74 68, Francesco Laporta 71 72 68, Jacques P de Villiers 73 70 68, Javier Sainz 69 73 69, Jacques Blaauw 74 68 69
212 – Jonathan Thomson 70 74 68, Joel Sjoholm 71 73 68, Wilco Nienaber 70 74 68, Clement Berardo 74 70 68, Herman Loubser 75 69 68, Dylan Naidoo 72 71 69, Casey Jarvis 73 70 69, Lars van Meijel 70 72 70, David Drysdale 71 70 71, James Hart du Preez 71 70 71, Hennie O’Kennedy 71 69 72, Tom Murray 69 70 73
213 – Yurav Premlall 69 75 69, Victor Riu 68 76 69, Marco Penge 74 70 69, Euan Walker 72 71 70, Felix Mory 70 72 71, Alvaro Quiros 72 70 71, Steve Surry 71 70 72, Albert Venter 70 70 73
214 – Anton Karlsson 74 70 70, Ruaidhri McGee 72 72 70, Victor Rufian 68 75 71, Mathieu Decottignies-Lafon 69 73 72, Madalitso Muthiya 70 71 73
215 – Joel Girrbach 74 70 71, Gregg Upton 71 72 72, Matteo Manassero 73 70 72
216 – Lorenzo Gagli 72 72 72, CJ du Plessis 74 70 72, Chris Paisley 72 72 72, Erhard Lambrechts 76 68 72, OJ Farrell 70 72 74
217 – Clancy Waugh 68 76 73, Jaco Prinsloo 70 72 75
219 – Mikael Lundberg 72 72 75, Stefan Wears-Taylor 70 73 76, Louis Albertse 73 68 78
224 – Nikhil Rama 70 74 80
Missed the cut:-
145 – Siyanda Mwandla 72 73, Oliver Lindell 79 66, Jean Hugo 74 71, Toby Tree 73 72, Max Schmitt 74 71, Emilio Cuartero Blanco 75 70, Stephen Ferreira 71 74, Wynand Dingle 79 66, James Kamte 74 71, Oliver Farr 71 74, Benjamin Poke 71 74, Sean Bradley 72 73, Victor Garcia Broto 73 72, Kristoffer Reitan 76 69, Dwayne Basson 72 73, Jovan Rebula 73 72
146 – Luke Brown 76 70, Kyle Barker 73 73, Jake Redman 76 70, Pierre Pineau 70 76, Ruan Korb 73 73, Christopher Mivis 75 71, Toto Thimba Jnr 74 72, Doug McGuigan 72 74, Rourke van der Spuy 73 73, Keagan Thomas 72 74, Ryan Van Velzen 73 73, Alejandro Canizares 73 73, Eduard Rousaud 71 75, Yan Wei Liu 71 75, Pavan Sagoo 70 76, Rhys West 72 74, Matthew Spacey 74 72
147 – Andre Van Dyk 77 70, Malcolm Mitchell 73 74, Jacques Kruyswijk 71 76, Oscar Lengden 77 70, Anthony Michael 74 73, Trevor Fisher Jnr 75 72, Henric Sturehed 73 74, MJ Viljoen 74 73, Dan Erickson 74 73, Rhys Enoch 71 76, Jaco Ahlers 73 74, Martin Rohwer 69 78, Philip Eriksson 72 75, Michael Palmer 73 74, Rupert Kaminski 70 77, Elias Bertheussen 71 76, Jake Roos 74 73, Joe Long 74 73
148 – Robin Petersson 76 72, Luke Jerling 76 72, Keith Horne 74 74, Christopher Feldborg Nielsen 76 72, Ricardo Gouveia 74 74, Neil Schietekat 74 74, Tristen Strydom 73 75
149 – Alex Haindl 76 73, Marc Hammer 77 72, Keelan van Wyk 77 72, Danie Van Niekerk 81 68
150 – Lorenzo Scalise 76 74, Ruan Conradie 78 72, Adam Blomme 77 73, Heinrich Bruiners 75 75
151 – Estiaan Conradie 75 76, Steven Tiley 81 70, Gary Boyd 78 73, Gerard du Plooy 77 74, Chris Cannon 74 77
152 – Stuart Manley 75 77
153 – Keenan Davidse 76 77
154 – Combrinck Smit 80 74
155 – Robin Roussel 77 78, Merrick Bremner 76 79
156 – Lucas Vacarisas 78 78
157 – Chris Wood 78 79, Callan Barrow 76 81
WDN – Nicolai Kristensen 72 WDN
