Peter Karmis shot to the top of the leaderboard on moving day at the Investec Royal Swazi Open with a 10-under-par 62 score, which earned him a massive 22 points to take his total to 40 points for the week.
He opened his round with birdies on the first two holes, made par on the third and followed that up with three more birdies and an eagle on the seventh, which was followed by pars on eight and nine.
Karmis did not relent on the homeward nine, as four more birdies made it into his card before a bogey spoiled what would have been a perfect round for the 36-year-old.
“I played very well today,” he said. “The greens seemed to be very good in the morning. And I putted very well today and I’m pleased with my results.”
Karmis says his third round at Royal Swazi Spa Country Club on Friday was because most aspects of his game were on song.
“Look, I’m hitting it well, I’m hitting it straight. My iron play is pretty good and I putted well today and gave myself the best chances,” he said.
Second on the leaderboard is Lyle Rowe, whose seven-under-par 65 earned 17 points and took his total to 39. He, too, had a birdie-laden front nine.
He made five of those, a bogey and a par on both eight and nine.
The back nine was just as solid, because despite the bogey he made on 14, Rowe’s eagle on 12 and the two birdies on 16 and 18 earned him a much-needed eight points on that stretch.
“I played nicely. I made two errors, two poor tee shots on the par-threes, but overall I can’t complain,” Rowe said.
“This is a fun format to play because you just never know. A couple of birdies in a row and you jump up. Anything can change.”
Third on the leaderboard is Ruan de Smidt, who shot his lowest round this week, a solid eight-under-par 64, which gave him 18 points and catapulted him to 39 points overall. He made seven birdies and eagle, accompanied by an unwanted bogey.
George Coetzee and Jared Harvey share fourth position ahead of the final round and there’s no doubt that both will fancy their chances, seeing that they are only four points behind Karmis.
Coetzee refuses to put any pressure on himself, given the good results he’s had on the European Tour of late.
“Everything feels pretty good, but I am not searching too much. I’m just trying to play my game and just trying do the things that I have been trying to do the last couple of weeks,” said Coetzee.
Louis de Jager and Merrick Bremner share the sixth spot, while Dean Burmester, Oliver Bekker, Neil Schietekat, Teaghan Gauche and Vaughn Groenewald are all tied at eighth spot on 33 points.
Member of the Gary Player Class of 2017-18 Sipho Bujela’s 28 points keep him in the top 20 going into the final round, while fellow squad member in that development group, Keenan Davidse, shares the 28th spot with seven other golfers, including Jacques Kruyswijk.
Second round scores:
40 – Peter Karmis 12 6 22
39 – Lyle Rowe 11 11 17
38 – Ruan de Smidt 9 11 18
36 – George Coetzee 5 9 22, Jared Harvey 12 12 12
34 – Louis de Jager 12 11 11, Merrick Bremner 14 11 9
33 – Dean Burmester 5 17 11, Oliver Bekker 12 10 11, Neil Schietekat 14 11 8, Vaughn Groenewald 14 12 7, Teaghan Gauche 16 11 6
32 – Zack Byrd 2 11 19, Hennie du Plessis 9 7 16
31 – Rourke van der Spuy 14 13 4
30 – Luke Jerling 15 3 12, Ockie Strydom 6 14 10
29 – Wallie Coetsee 12 1 16, Christiaan Bezuidenhout 12 10 7
28 – Jonathan Agren 12 4 12, Christiaan Basson 13 4 11, Sipho Bujela 10 12 6, Jaco Prinsloo 11 10 7, Titch Moore 6 13 9
27 – Jaco Ahlers 6 9 12
26 – CJ du Plessis 14 1 11, Ryan Tipping 7 10 9
25 – Keenan Davidse 4 10 11, Bryce Easton 5 11 9, Jacques Kruyswijk 13 2 10, Ulrich van den Berg 8 8 9, Anthony Michael 10 8 7, Andre de Decker 8 10 7, JJ Senekal 17 2 6
24 – Herman Loubser 10 3 11, Toby Tree 5 10 9
23 – Erik van Rooyen 3 8 12, Justin Harding 2 12 9, Tyrone Ferreira 16 -2 9, Colin Nel 9 8 6
22 – Adilson Da Silva 9 3 10, PH McIntyre 3 13 6
21 – Stefan Engell Andersen 12 1 8, Rhys West 10 7 4
20 – Michael Hollick 9 4 7
19 – Andrew Curlewis 6 11 2
18 – Theunis Spangenberg 5 10 3
17 – Jbe’ Kruger 1 11 5
15 – Warrick Druian 6 7 2
9 – Matthew Spacey 7 9 -7
Missed the cut:
10 – Jaco Mouton 5 5, Danie van Tonder 4 6, Combrinck Smit 8 2
9 – Chris Swanepoel 7 2, Alex Haindl 5 4, N.J. Arnoldi 5 4, Jacquin Hess 2 7, Jake Roos 3 6, Jean Hugo 6 3
8 – Morne Buys 11 -3, Steven Ferreira 2 6, James Kamte 7 1
5 – Stuart Smith 2 3
4 – Wynand Dingle 2 2
3 – JC Ritchie 7 -4, Doug McGuigan 0 3, Mark Williams 4 -1
2 – Bradford Vaughan 5 -3
1 – Heinrich Bruiners -4 5
-2 – Marc Cayeux -4 2
-3 – Arthur Horne 0 -3, Andrew van der Knaap -4 1
