Bradley Diggeden took the 36-hole lead on Thursday in the Big Easy IGT Tour’s Tour Championship at Centurion Country Club when he carded a four-under-par 67.
His six birdies and two bogeys took him to 11-under-par ahead of the final round, one shot clear of Kyle McClatchie and first-round leader Keelan van Wyk. Two shots further back were amateur Christiaan Burke and Dylan Kok on eight-under after rounds of 65 and 66 respectively.
Diggeden opened with a birdie on the first hole, and picked up another shot on the fourth. But he dropped a shot on the par-three eighth, only to recover it with a birdie on nine as he turned in two-under 33. He picked up shots regularly on the homeward nine on 11, 13 and 15, but he made bogey on the par-four 16th to come home in two-under for his total of 67.
It was McClatchie’s six-under-par 65 which laid down the marker ahead of the final round, however. He made seven birdies and a bogey to move to within striking distance of what could be his sixth victory of the year. And with the top six players on the Road to the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit after this tournament winning their Sunshine Tour cards, McClatchie is currently projected to rise to the top from his third place and win back his playing privileges on the Sunshine Tour.
Ian Snyman currently tops the list, but is stuck in Asia after making his debut on the Asian Tour and had to miss the Tour Championship. Vaughn van Deventer also carded a five-under 66 in the second round at Centurion, and is in a share of ninth which projects him to climb to fourth on the Order of Merit. Erhard Lambrechts is projected to slip one place to third after a second-round of one-under 70 left him in 28th. Ryan van Velzen is projected to finish in fifth after a one-under second round, while Van Wyk is projected to sixth.
Diggeden’s round puts him into contention for the last card, as he is projected to climb 11 places into seventh.
