By Rahul Banerji
Difficult conditions continued to dog the field for the Investec South African Women’s Open in Cape Town on Friday, with just one sub-par card recorded on the day.
With weather predicted to take a turn for the worse over the weekend, scores are bound to remain high as Nicole Garcia of South Africa took the day two lead with a 1-over par 73.
Tvesa Malik struggled in the conditions with a 7-over par 79 but it still was enough to keep her in the top 20.
Spain’s Silvia Banon had the second day’s only sub-par card, a 1-under 71 as players up and down the order struggled on a difficult day at Westlake Golf Club,
Tvesa did a reasonable job on her front nine, opening with a birdie but dropping four shots – two bogeys and a double – before the turn.
She then dropped a further five shots before reaching the club-house even as those around her were as badly affected by the high winds and uncertain greens.
The Ladies European Tour website said Garcia’s early start gave her something of an advantage which she used to set the clubhouse lead at level-par with three birdies on her card.
Gusting winds
High winds, including gusts of up to 35 km per hour in the afternoon, meant the late starters faced a tougher ask and day one leaders Lee-Anne Pace of South Africa and Wales’ Lydia Hall were unable to catch Garcia.
“We started with some really good weather this morning so I was hoping it would hold up, but through the back nine the wind started to pump,” Garcia said on the website.
“I think I had a good draw today, the front nine was a little bit easier with the wind.
“I was hoping to play a little bit better, but I got a bit unlucky on some holes.
“I’ll take that score especially with where I started. I’m happy I didn’t blow out with this wind and I kept it together.”
Three-time tournament winner Pace had a 75 with one birdie to sit one-shot back from the leader.
Alongside was Germany’s Leonie Harm, who was one of only three players to bring in a level-par 72 card including Scotland’s Scotland’s Kylie Henry, who made an eagle on the par-five 13th, behind Banon.
The cut came at 12-over, an indication of what the field had to cope with. In all, 66 payers went through to the weekend at the event which has on offer four US Open slots.
Shubhankar recovers
At the Betfred British Masters, Shubhankar Sharma was the lone Indian going through to the money rounds, making the cut on level-par 144.
Three others – Gaganjeet Bhullar, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chawrasia and Ajeetesh Sandhu – failed to make the grade, Sandhu missing out by one shot.
Sharma had successive 71s to go with his opening 73 coming into Saturday and his 3-under 69 saw the 24-year-old made good gains on the final day at the Belfry.
It gave him a 19-place bump in the final standings though that could change with a titanic battle still in progress for top honours.
With scoring much easier on Saturday, four players – Scots Robert MacIntyre and Calum Hill, England’s Richard Bland and Eduardo Molinari of Italy – were tied for the lead at 11-under overall.
Another four are in a tie for fifth in a battle that threatens to go down to the wire.
Also read: Indians hope for better fortunes as British Masters tees off on Wednesday
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