Staff WriterOn a day when Royal Cape Golf Club felt more like a wind tunnel than a postcard, the CIRCA Cape Town Open found a familiar veteran perched on top of the leaderboard: Trevor Fisher Jnr, who stitched together a classy five-under-par 67 to grab a one-shot lead heading into the weekend.
The 46-year-old South African, playing like a man reacquainted with his favourite toy, moved to 11 under par for the week with a joint low round of the day, and he did it while the famed Cape breeze was behaving like it had a personal grudge against every golf ball in the Mother City.
Fast Start, Fierce Wind, Familiar Composure
Fisher Jnr came out of the blocks like he’d been shot from a starter’s pistol, birdieing his opening two holes before reeling off three on the trot from the sixth to take control of the CIRCA Cape Town Open for the first time.
From there, it was less cruise control and more survival mode. Over the next ten holes he mixed three birdies with three bogeys as the wind swirled around Royal Cape, changing its mind more often than a nervous club golfer on the first tee.
“Today it was more challenging than yesterday,” he said. “The wind blew a little bit more, but not as strong as it can get out here. It does make it more challenging.
“There is still a long way to go with two more rounds, but I’m just happy to be in this position and making birdies.
“I’ll put my head down, stay focused, try and do what I’ve been doing and see how it all works out.”
The scorecard might have looked like a lie detector test, but underneath it all was the sort of experience you only get from decades in the trenches.
A Veteran Chasing That Long-Overdue Trophy
Fisher Jnr is no stranger to the big stage. He’s already a DP World Tour winner, having lifted the 2015 Africa Open in the Eastern Cape, but even he admits that the silverware cupboard has been gathering dust.
“It’s always nice to win a golf tournament or even come in the top five, but I am going to try and win for sure,” he added.
“I haven’t won for over ten years now. It’s been quite a while. I need to get my hands on a trophy, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself. I will just play it hole-by-hole and see what happens.
“I’m obviously very pleased to put myself in the position to win.”
If there’s a better summary of veteran wisdom than “hole-by-hole”, it probably hasn’t been invented yet. Still, for all the calm talk, there’s no hiding the fact that a long-awaited return to the winner’s circle is very much on his mind as the CIRCA Cape Town Open moves into the business end.
Ereno Leads the Chase as Pack Closes In
Of course, this is professional golf, not a coronation, and there’s a chasing pack quite happy to steal Fisher Jnr’s thunder if he so much as blinks.
Spaniard Pablo Ereno sits alone in second, just one shot adrift, ready to turn the weekend into a two-man duel if he can keep his foot on the gas. A further stroke back, Finland’s Tapio Pulkkanen and South Africa’s Jason Roets matched Fisher Jnr’s 67 to move into a share of third alongside Scotland’s Marc Warren, American Canon Claycomb and Englishman Will Enefer at nine under par.
That’s the sort of leaderboard that keeps TV producers happy and players awake at night.
Just one shot further back on eight under are Spaniard Santiago Tarrio and Iceland’s Haraldur Magnus, joined by home favourites Wilco Nienaber, Hennie Otto and Samuel Simpson – a trio perfectly capable of lighting the place up if the putters cooperate.
In other words, the CIRCA Cape Town Open is balanced on a knife-edge, with enough contenders lurking to turn Sunday into a full-blown shootout.
Royal Cape, the Wind, and a Weekend Test
Royal Cape Golf Club, the oldest in South Africa, has been around long enough to know a thing or two about sorting the pretenders from the contenders, and this week it has the wind as its not-so-secret accomplice.
For Fisher Jnr, managing that combination has been as much about patience as precision. He’s already shown he can keep his ball – and his composure – under control when the breeze starts writing its own script. If the conditions bare their teeth again over the final two rounds, experience could be the most valuable club in his bag.
The third round of the CIRCA Cape Town Open gets going tomorrow at 7:44 am local time, with Fisher Jnr and Ereno set for a marquee pairing as they head out together at 1:01 pm. One is chasing a long-awaited renaissance, the other hunting a breakthrough win; both know that moving day at Royal Cape has a habit of exposing weakness and rewarding nerve.
Whatever happens, the leaderboard is primed, the wind is loaded, and Trevor Fisher Jnr has the target on his back – exactly where a player who “needs to get [his] hands on a trophy” secretly wants to be.
