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Mbabane - Jaco Ahlers didn't let the bad weather get the better of him as he backed up his opening round of 66 with an even more impressive seven-under-par 65 round two of the King's Cup to take a one-stroke lead at 13-under going into the final round.
A veteran of 14 years on Tour, Ahlers has faced many challenges in his professional life and while there was nothing easy about the second round due to the terrible weather, it was nothing to faze the 2018 Dimension Data Pro-Am champion.
"If you look at the leaderboard, Titch (Moore) is there, Ruan (De Smidt) is there, Daniel Greene is there, so experience was key today," he said of the tough conditions under which the second round was played.
"Titch spent many years in Europe and the two years I spent there too helped me a lot with this kind of weather as well, especially on a course like this."
Kicking things off with four consecutive pars, Ahlers picked up some momentum after the birdie he made on the fifth hole because that was followed by two more on the next two holes to turn in 33 and bogey-free. After the turn, three back-to-back birdies entered his scorecard before he made his only bogey of the day on the par-four 13th. He bounced back from that expertly as he converted another birdie on 14 and another on the 17th to sign for a 65.
"It feels good to be at the top of that leaderboard," he admitted. "It's been a long time since I did that. My last win was beginning of 2018 so it's been a while. I've had my struggles on and off the course but I've pretty much rededicated myself this year and trying to do some stuff towards Europe next year so this is great form to get into."
He has young Estiaan Conradie breathing down his neck however, with the 22-year old Wingate Park Country Club carding a five-under 67 to get to 12-under-par and trail Ahlers by one shot. His brother, Ruan, claimed victory in the previous event played here, the Royal Swazi spa Challenge and Estiaan wants nothing more than to emulate that feat.
"Hopefully I can pull it off tomorrow as well and make a good story out of it," says Conradie. "So, I'm looking forward to tomorrow."
The third spot is shared by 10 players at 10-under-par for the week.
Scores:
131 - Jaco Ahlers 66 65
132 - Estiaan Conradie 65 67
134 - Ruan de Smidt 66 68, Peetie van der Merwe 67 67, Titch Moore 65 69, Daniel Greene 68 66, Martin Rohwer 67 67, Toto Thimba 66 68, Alex Haindl 66 68, Wynand Dingle 67 67, Philip Geerts 67 67, Andre Nel 68 66
136 - James Hart du Preez 69 67, Fredrik From 67 69, Neil Schietekat 70 66, Benjamin Follett-Smith 64 72, Jaco Prinsloo 69 67, Jacques P de Villiers 65 71
137 - Teboho Sefatsa 67 70, Clinton Grobler 68 69, Dylan Mostert 70 67, Theunis Bezuidenhout 69 68, Pieter Moolman 69 68
138 - Hennie Otto 71 67, Rhys West 71 67, Ryan Cairns 69 69
139 - Callum Mowat 68 71, Herman Loubser 68 71, Darin de Smidt 69 70, Christiaan Basson 67 72, Tyrone Ryan 71 68, Doug McGuigan 68 71, Keenan Davidse 67 72, Ruan Conradie 68 71, Teaghan Gauche 70 69, Paul Boshoff 71 68
140 - Jason Roets 69 71, Dylan Naidoo 67 73, Thriston Lawrence 69 71, Jacques Blaauw 70 70, Thanda Mavundla 73 67, Riekus Nortje 70 70, Trevor Fisher Jnr 68 72, Jake Redman 69 71
Missed the cut:-
141 - Chris Cannon 65 76, Andre De Decker 73 68, James Pennington 71 70, Heinrich Bruiners 71 70
142 - Madalitso Muthiya 71 71, Chris Swanepoel 71 71, Andrew van der Knaap 68 74, Derick Petersen 65 77, MJ Viljoen 72 70, CJ du Plessis 72 70, Deon Germishuys 72 70
143 - Hendrikus Stoop 71 72, Merrick Bremner 72 71, Jean Hugo 70 73, Stephen Ferreira 72 71, Luke Jerling 69 74, Combrinck Smit 70 73, Bradford Vaughan 70 73, Ockie Strydom 72 71, Juran Dreyer 72 71
144 - Tyrone Ferreira 70 74, David McIntyre 73 71, Rourke van der Spuy 70 74, JC Ritchie 68 76
145 - Wallie Coetsee 69 76, Makhetha Mazibuko 71 74, Stefan Wears-Taylor 76 69
146 - Allister de Kock 73 73, Kyle McClatchie 73 73, Jonathan Waschefort 75 71, Bennie van der Merwe 75 71
147 - Adriel Poonan 70 77, Jade Buitendag 72 75, Vaughn Groenewald 70 77, Dayne Moore 71 76
148 - Hayden Griffiths 73 75
149 - Franklin Manchest 75 74, Lyle Rowe 74 75
151 - Louis Albertse 71 80
152 - Alpheus Kelapile 72 80, Caylum Boon 80 72
153 - Meshack Zwane 77 76
155 - Raymond Mathonsi 73 82, Mandla Dlamini Jnr 79 76
158 - Brandon-Jude Rennie 75 83
168 - Willard Mkhwanazi 83 85
