Johannesburg: Siphiwe Siphayi made up for an opening 74 with a 64 on Tuesday to lead the Mena Golf Tour’s Jo’Burg City Masters by a stroke at six under par heading into Wednesday’s final round. Day one leader Bryn Flanagan carded level par 72 to slip to solo second on five-under par, two ahead of Craig Hinton and Pieter Kruger. The cut was made at four-over 148 with 53 players making it to the final round.
“I just wanted to get back to level or maybe get a bit lower after shooting a 74 in the first round,” said Siphayi, who made three birdies and a bogey on the front followed by six birdies on the back, four straight from 12 to 15.
“I played really well in round one, but just didn’t make any putts. I just worked on the putting and, I guess, I just started dropping putts. I started well on the first nine — it was actually quite funny because my golf shoe ripped on the eighth hole and I had to run in and buy some shoes. Maybe it was the new shoes that gave me the six-under back nine.
“I made some nice long putts and it just got the momentum going. After the birdie on number 10 it just got better and better. I placed myself really well off the tee box and yeah we’ll have to see how it goes in the final round.
“Glendower (Golf Club) has always been a great course. The condition of the course has always been great and the greens are great. It allows us to give it a good stroke and you just need to trust your line.
“Tomorrow I’ll have the same game plan. I’ll get here and do my warm-up, get onto the course and like I said, get the lines right so you get one or two putts in and then hopefully shoot really low.
“I just make sure I dress warmly. Whilst I’m playing I keep stretching because you don’t want to get a bit cold, especially if you have to wait, so I’m always trying to just keep myself in the game. Today the momentum was great, my caddie really helped me and it was really enjoyable,”
