MICHAEL VLISMAS, Phalaborwa | Saturday 12.00pm.
JUSTIN Hobday survived a lion warning on his way to a second-round seven-under par 65 and a two-shot lead in the Vodacom Series: Mpumalanga at the Hans Merensky Golf Club course on Friday.
Hobday reached the turn in four-under before being told by the club that there were reportedly lions from the neighbouring Kruger National Park somewhere on the back nine.
“I only made three birdies on the back nine because I decided to concentrate less on my golf and watch my back a little more closely,” he joked after his bogey-free round, which places him on nine-under par 135 for the tournament.
The warning turned out to be a false alarm, but Hobday still faces a very real danger to his lead.
Behind him, the leaderboard is still as congested as in the first round. On seven-under par lies the experience of Des Terblanche and
Nico van Rensburg, who were later joined there by Zimbabwe’s Sean Farrell.
Terblanche, the overnight leader by one, returned a 70 to keep himself in the hunt, while Van Rensburg is still within reach of his second Vodacom Tour victory of the year following a 67.
Ashley Roestoff is also within striking distance at six-under after another 69 from him.
“Both Des (Terblanche) and Nico (van Rensburg) are tournament winners, so they’ll know what to do in the final round. I’m going to have to at least break 70 in the final round if I want to win this thing,” said Hobday, who won twice on the Vodacom Tour last year.
“I played well today (on Friday), but didn’t hole any long putts. Just a bunch of 10- to 12-footers. The course is in great shape and the greens on the front nine are okay, but they’re a little bit bumpy on the back nine.”
But Hobday, who will again attempt to gain his European Tour card at the tour’s qualifying school in October, said the long breaks between events on the Vodacom Tour have meant that he has not yet reached the same scintillating form of last year. — MWP