Van Zyl's lead cut by chasing pack in Turkish Airlines Open

Joy Chakravarty 21:58 30/10/2015
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  • Remarkable Jaco Van Zyl is playing this year on a medical exemption.

    Belek — For someone who spent the majority of 2014 lying in his bed after surgery in both knees, followed by a second one on his left knee because a screw snapped off, Jaco van Zyl is doing a fine job of front-running at the Turkish Airlines Open this week.

    The South African, who is playing this year on a medical exemption, continued to set the pace in the first event of the European Tour’s Final Series, adding a three-under par 69 to his fabulous 61 on Thursday to reach 14-under par at the halfway stage.

    That gave van Zyl a two-shot advantage going into the weekend over the English pair of Chris Wood (66) and Richard Bland (65) at 12-under par, with 2013 champion Victor Dubuissson (64) and Paraguyan Fabrizio Zanotti (66) in tied fourth place on 133.

    World No3 Rory McIlroy, hoping to win a second consecutive Race to Dubai crown, shot a second straight bogey-free round of five-under par 67 to be tied sixth along with Frenchman Alexander Levy (65).

    It was another day of incredibly low scores at Montgomerie Maxx Royal course, and yet, van Zyl appeared to be running away with the tournament when he reached five-under par after the 12th hole. At that stage, he was seven ahead of his nearest rival.

    But two tee shot ruined what would have been another perfect outing, splashing his driver on the par-5 fourth (his 13th) and then doing a similar thing with his six-iron on eighth.

    The 36-year-old was enjoying the spotlight, especially given the quality of the field he was leading and the position he was in last year.

    “It’s always good fun. That’s why we practice hours and hours to be in this position. It’s just nice to be able to enjoy it,” said van Zyl, who was sensational at the beginning of the season in European Tour events back home, finishing inside the top six in three of the four he played despite coming back from the surgery.

    Later, he pretty much secured his spot in the DP World Tour Championship with a third place finish in the French Open.

    “I hit it really nicely the first nine holes. Obviously, didn’t make as many putts as I did yesterday. And unfortunately a couple of loose ones coming in, and it resulted in a 69. We just turned into the breeze on our back nine and I misjudged the wind a little bit.

    “Lying on the couch for a year, you don’t quite know what to expect. Being in that position that I am in now, after what I went through last year, I’ll take whatever at this stage.”

    Van Zyl will be wary of the chasing pack, but none more than McIlroy, who was far from the top gear and yet purring along nicely.

    The Northern Irishman saved a superb par on the 18th hole for the second straight day. He had to take a penalty drop after pushing his tee shot left, but made a crucial six-feet putt for par.

    “Anytime you can go the first 36 holes of a tournament without a bogey, it’s not too bad,” said McIlroy.

    “There was a little bit of frustration. I was giving myself some chances. I felt like I didn’t hit wedges close enough to really give myself good looks at birdies.

    “When I looked at the leaderboard on the fourth hole, and I was ten shots back at that point, so to go from ten shots back to only four back going into the weekend, it’s really not that much.

    “It could have been better out there, but I’m still within touching distance, which is good.

    I think the two 67s that I shot were very comfortable. I didn’t really do much. I didn’t hole any long putts. It was two solid days of golf. So, if I can get something going, I definitely feel like there’s a 62 or a 63 out there for me.”

    Meanwhile, Graeme McDowell showed promising signs of returning to some decent form with a round of 65 that took him to tied eighth place at nine-under par, the same as Lee Westwood, who struggled with cold and sinus in his round of 71.

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