Coetsee Up by Two at Joburg Open


Wallie Coetsee continued his fine play in the Joburg Open. The 42-year-old carded a 2-under 70 on the East Course to reach 14-under 201, two strokes ahead of fellow South Africans Jacques Blaauw (67) and Tjaart van der Walt (71) and England's David Howell (68) and Steve Webster (65).

Coetsee carded five birdies and three bogeys Saturday and is hoping to continue his fine play Sunday to break a 17-year victory drought. "The first tee shot there were no nerves, the six iron into the middle of the green there were no nerves, but once I grabbed that putter there was no feel," Coetsee told the European Tour's website. "I three-putted but after that there were no nerves.

"You need to keep a positive mind, me and my caddie are enjoying it out there and hopefully we can tomorrow. There is a lot at stake, more than you can think of, but it's just a game at the end of the day. Last night I only slept for about four hours but tonight I think I'm going to have a lot of sleep."

Webster's seven-birdie 65 was the low round of the day. "I made a good birdie at the first and a good save at the second and just got on a bit of a roll," he said.

"I missed three or four 12-footers which was frustrating but there was a lot of really good golf today. I gave myself a lot of chances and that's what my game is all about."

Trailing Coetsee by just three are South Africans Garth Mulroy (72), Thomas Aiken (70), defending champion George Coetzee (69), Michael Anthony (69) and Chris Swanepoel (67), and Brits Simon Dyson (72), Anthony Wall (71), Paul Waring (67) and Andy Sullivan (68).

For all the scores, visit http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2015/tournamentid=2015014/leaderboard/index.html?showLeaderboard=Y.