None of the eight South Africans in action at the NBO Oman Open were able to card a round in the 60s on Friday with half the contingent heading home as a result, writes WADE PRETORIUS.
Jacques Kruyswijk (73), Thomas Aiken (71), Brandon Stone (74) and Darren Fichardt (77) all headed home early from Muscat.
France’s Matthieu Pavon drew on his past experience at Al Mouj Golf to hold the midway lead at the inaugural NBO Oman Open.
The Muscat layout was playing host to a European Tour event for the first time but has hosted five events on the Challenge Tour, including the season-ending NBO Golf Classic Grand Final from 2015-2017. Pavon finished in a tie at third at the event in 2016 as he graduated from the Challenge Tour and enjoyed a successful rookie season last term, finishing 49th on the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex.
The Frenchman is still searching for a first win on the European Tour and put himself in an excellent position on Friday as a second-round 65 moved him to 11 under and gave him a two-shot lead over England’s Matthew Southgate.
Pavon’s excellent scoring was not replicated by the Saffa quartet that will feature this weekend.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who opened with a solid 70, moved quickly to -4 with two birdies in his opening three holes. His card did not contain a blemish on the outward nine before he posted another red number on the 10.
Then the blemishes came. First he dropped a shot with a 5 on the 11th before doubling the 15th and following that up with two drops in a row before a par to close to drop out of contention.
Richard Sterne birdied 16 and 18 to card a 70 to be -2 through 36 holes. Zander Lombard matched his compatriot’s mark with identical scores in the first two rounds. Lombard needed to birdie the last to draw level with Sterne after following up his gain on the 16th with a drop on 17.
Haydn Porteous made the weekend despite a triple on the par 5 third hole. He made four birdies between the 7th and 13th holes to get himself into the weekend before a late slip on the 16th.
For Kruyswijk it was a case of what might’ve been as he doubled the 18th to miss the cut by one.
Photo: Luke Walker/Sunshine Tour
