Irishman Lester makes his move despite weather at Hyundai Open

You are currently viewing Irishman Lester makes his move despite weather at Hyundai Open
Rowan Lester. (Photo by Tyrone Winfield/Sunshine Tour)

Haydn Porteous hadn’t even teed off his second round and still held the lead in The Hyundai Open as another wave of weather resulted in a suspension of play at the Ebotse Links.

After the suspended first round was completed on Friday morning, the second round was also suspended because of weather and will resume at 07:00 on Saturday.

Porteous, who held the overnight lead, was unable to tee off his second round and leads by one shot on eight under par.

But Ireland’s Rowan Lester and South Africa’s Lyle Rowe and Ryan van Velzen managed to close the gap as his nearest challengers on seven under and still on their front nines.

Lester is in his first season on the Sunshine Tour, and is loving life on the fairways in South
Africa

“I’ve been here a few times before with the Irish team. I really like it here and the style of golf suits my game. The food is good and the people are very friendly,” he said.

Lester is also quite pleased with his progress thus far.

“I feel like I have been playing nice all season to be honest. I’ve been just a few shots out of top-10s the last sort of six weeks. It’s just the putting that has been letting me down. This tournament, I had a few good putts and that’s the difference between shooting one or two under par, compared to six or seven under par. It was nice to keep the bogeys off the scorecard.”

Luis Carrera, the current Fortress Rookie of the Year leader, is in a group of players on six under par.

SCORES (INCOMPLETE ROUND)

-8 – Haydn Porteous 64
-7 – Rowan Lester 66 (-1) [6], Lyle Rowe 68 (-3) [6], Ryan Van Velzen 67 (-2) [3]
-6 – Altin van der Merwe 68 (-2) [6], Luis Carrera 68 (-2) [6], Luke Brown 68 (-2) [6], Tristen Strydom 66
-5 – Gregory Mckay 70 (-3) [9], Jonathan Broomhead 67 (Par) [6], Daniel Cronje 66 (+1) [3], Nikhil Rama 67, Warwick Purchase 67, Jacques P de Villiers 67, Ruan Korb 67, Casey Jarvis 67, JC Ritchie 67
-4 – Jordan Burnand 71 (-3) [9], Daniel van Tonder 70 (-2) [6], Pieter Moolman 67 (+1) [3], Pierre Viallaneix 70 (-2) [3], Kieron van Wyk 68, Keenan Davidse 68, Xander Basson 68, Jean Hugo 68, Samuel Simpson 68, Karabo Mokoena 68, David Amm 68
-3 – Malcolm Mitchell 70 (-1) [6], Wynand Dingle 72 (-3) [6], Luca Filippi 70 (-1) [6], Herman Loubser 69 (Par) [6], MJ Viljoen 70 (-1) [3], Anthony Michael 71 (-2) [3], Peter Karmis 69 (Par) [3], Jacquin Hess 69, Keagan Thomas 69, Eric Wowor 69, Hennie Otto 69, Jason Roets 69, Austin Bautista 69, Bryce Easton 69, Therion Nel 69
-2 – Ruan Groenewald 72 (-2) [9], Luke Jerling 72 (-2) [6], Joe Long 73 (-3) [6], Stuart Krog 71 (-1) [6], Christiaan Burke 70 (Par) [3], Trevor Fisher Jnr 70 (Par) [3], Ricky Hendler 69 (+1) [3], Jean-Paul Strydom 70 (Par) [3], Keegan Mclachlan 70 (Par) [3], Brandon Meads 70, James Mack 70, Jacques Blaauw 70, Christian Kriek 70, Ryan van der Klis 70
Missed the cut:-
-1 – Matthew Spacey 71 (Par) [6], Rhys West 73 (-2) [6], Gerhard Pepler 67 (+4) [6], Benjamin Van Wyk 73 (-2) [3], Toto Thimba Jnr 71 (Par) [3], Marcel Steyn Scholtz 71 (Par) [3], Kyle De Beer 71, JJ Senekal 71, Graham van der Merwe 71, Tyron Davidowitz 71, Hunter Epson 71
Par – Jonathan Ackerman 73 (-1) [9], Stals Swart 71 (+1) [6], Conner Mackenzie 70 (+2) [6], Joe Knox 71 (+1) [6], Hayden Griffiths 71 (+1) [6], Jaco Prinsloo 74 (-2) [3], CJ du Plessis 74 (-2) [3], Keelan van Wyk 72, Mikkel Antonsen 72, Franklin Manchest 72, Danie Van Niekerk 72, Ulrich van den Berg 72, Tafadzwa Nyamukondiwa 72, Nyasha Muyambo 72, Simon du Plooy 72
+1 – Ruan de Smidt 73 (Par) [9], CJ Van Wyk 73 (Par) [3], Musiwalo Nethunzwi 74 (-1) [3], Jason Broomhead 73, Tumelo Molloyi 73, Ronald Rugumayo 73, Slade Pickering 73, Ruan Conradie 73, Zachary Chegwidden 73, Deon Germishuys 73, Estiaan Conradie 73, Quintin Wilsnach 73, Tomas Gana 73, Merrick Bremner 73
+2 – Tyran Snyders 75 (-1) [3], Ethan Smith 75 (-1) [3], Hennie O’Kennedy 73 (+1) [3], Albert Venter 75 (-1) [3], Combrinck Smit 74, Tyrone Ryan 74, Robson Chinhoi 74, Rourke van der Spuy 74, Jastice Mashego 74, Keelan Africa 74
+3 – Heo Minjun 73 (+2) [9], Otto Van Buynder 74 (+1) [9], Sentanio Minnie 75, James Pennington 75, Kyle Barker 75, Stephen Ferreira 75, Keanu Pestana 75, Liam Grehan 75, Jordan Duminy 75, Umar Davids 75
+4 – Marcus Sandile Taylor 74 (+2) [6], Neil Schietekat 76, Trevor Mahoney 76, Pierre Pellegrin 76, Tristin Galant 76, Thanda Mavundla 76
+5 – Werner Deyzel 77 (Par) [3], Thabiso Ngcobo 77, Thomas Spreadborough 77, Leon Vorster 77, Heinrich Bruiners 77, Khaya Jika 77
+6 – Mandla Dlamini Jnr 75 (+3) [9], Kyle McClatchie 77 (+1) [6]
+7 – Makhetha Mazibuko 77 (+2) [9], Allister de Kock 79 (Par) [9], Nick Cunningham 79, Rupert Kaminski 79
+10 – Paul Boshoff 79 (+3) [6]