Masterful McIntyre holds course in BDGA Academy Classic

(PHOTO – David McIntyre; credit CJ du Plooy)

JOHANNESBURG, 11 June 2015 – David McIntyre protected his overnight lead in the BDGA Academy Classic, but he will have to hold his nerve for a career defining victory on the IGT Tour on Friday.

The 18-year-old Honeydew amateur slept on a three-stroke advantage after an opening 66 at Eagle Canyon Country Club and produced a flawless four-under-par 68 at his home course to finish on 10-under-par 134.

McIntyre finished well clear of the chasing pack for a second successive day, but he will have a host of seasoned campaigners riding his tail in the final round.

IGT Tour regular TJ Bekker carded a 67 to finish two behind and IGT Tour winner Christiaan Bezuidenhout doubled up on 69s and lags four strokes off the pace.

Sunshine Tour professionals Mark Williams and Tyron Roelofsz registered respective rounds of 71 and 69 to share fourth on 140.

Meanwhile Tyrone Ryan fired a seven under 65 to take the low round honours.

The Sunshine Tour campaigner vaulted to a tie for sixth on 141 alongside amateurs Joubert van Eeden (69) and Simon Kruger (67).

Gunning for a maiden win in just his third start on the country’s premier development Tour, McIntyre said he is taking a realistic approach in the final round.

“Win or lose, I will take a lot away from this week’s event,” he said.

“My goal was to put myself in contention, but I never expected to lead in the first round. The nerves definitely got to me a few times in the second round, but I think that is to be expected.

“You have to learn to deal with the pressure of being in contention, and you have to learn how to win, so I’m definitely going to school on that this week.”

McIntyre parred his three opening holes and made a cracking par-save at the troublesome 13^th.

“Yesterday I hit it in the water and today I hit it into the bushes on the right,” he explained.

“I hacked it out and pitched it from about 40 meters out to 30 foot past the pin. I had a long downhill putt, but I managed to think that ball into the hole.”
He carried the momentum to birdies at 14 and 16 and notched two more gains on his back nine.

“I had another little stumble at five,” he said. “I was eight under and I got ahead of myself, thinking about double figures. I managed to save par again and then just stayed in the moment and made double figures anyway.”

The teenager is hoping for another solid finish on Friday.

“I’m not thinking about winning,” he said. “I had top five finishes in my first two events and I just want to get another top five finish under the belt. If I can play my own game, focus and stay in the moment, I’ll be able to stay in touch with the leaders. If I win, it’s a pure bonus.”

SECOND ROUND SCORES

All competitors RSA unless otherwise specified; amateurs indicated as (AMA)

134 – David McIntyre (AMA) 66 68

136 – TJ Bekker 69 67

138 – Christiaan Bezuidenhout 69 69

140 – Mark Williams 69 71, Tyron Roelofsz 71 69

141 – Joubert van Eeden (AMA) 72 69, Simon Kruger (AMA) 74 67, Tyrone Ryan 76 65

142 – Danie Pretorius 70 72, Christiaan Pretorius 73 69

143 – Herman Minnie 69 74, Rae Mackie 72 71, Sean Coomer (AMA) 71 72, Tyrone Ferreira 73 70, Jeff Inglis ENG 71 72, Jaco Mouton 73 70

144 – Bryce Leach (AMA) 73 71, Bryandrew Roelofsz 73 71, Hilton Hughes (AMA) 71 73

145 – Louis Botha 74 71, Conway Kunneke 73 72, Ruan Huysamen NAM 74 71

146 – Devan Payne (AMA) 74 72, David Ashley (AMA) 72 74, Ryan Cairns ZIM 76 70

148 – Otto van Greunen 73 75

149 – Matthew Adams (AMA) 75 74, Angus Ellis-Cole (AMA) 76 73, Morne Wolmarans (AMA) 74 75

150 – Barend Herbst (AMA) 78 72, Norman Beggs 74 76, Duane Keun 78 72, Louwtjie J van Vuuren (AMA) 77 73, Christian Olivier (AMA) 74 76

151 – Sheldon Steyn ZIM 77 74

152 – Brad Diffenthal 78 74, Gerard Du Plooy 77 75, Steven Ferreira 74 78

153 – Etzard Grimbeek (AMA) 77 76

154 – Cole Dodgen (AMA) 77 77, Adriel Poonan (AMA) 75 79, Stephan Erasmus (AMA) 78 76, Michael Armstrong (AMA) 80 74, Brendan Britten NAM 77 77

Missed the cut:-

155 – Ryan Wingrove (AMA) 82 73

156 – CJ Levey (AMA) 77 79

161 – Marais Visagie 86 75

164 – Wayne du Toit 83 81

165 – Francois van Rensburg (AMA) 87 78

168 – Gregory Beltramo 91 77

171 – Cameron Gunning 88 83

174 – Vid Gobac (AMA) 92 82

177 – JP Basson (AMA) 94 83

180 – Jabu Radebe 89 91

207 – Joseph Ramodise (AMA) 111 96

N/R – Duan Nagel (AMA) 90 N/R

DSQ – Mark Bright 75 DSQ, Matt Bright (AMA) 76 DSQ, Dylan Mostert (AMA) 73 DSQ

RTD – Ramon Rigney RTD

DSQ – Juan De Bruin (AMA) DSQ