Staff WriterChristofer Blomstrand clearly didn’t get the memo that moving day is supposed to be on Saturday. At the Jonsson Workwear Durban Open, the Swede tore Durban Country Club to shreds with an outrageous 11-under-par 61 to grab a share of the lead with Spain’s Santiago Tarrio heading into the weekend.
After two rounds, Blomstrand and Tarrio sit at 13 under par, one clear of England’s Alfie Plant, with a small army of locals and Europeans queuing up behind them, all convinced that the Jonsson Workwear Durban Open owes them a favour.
Blomstrand goes berserk with 61
Starting on the first, Blomstrand looked like he’d had rocket fuel with breakfast. Birdies on the second and third holes nudged him into gear, but it was the eagle at the par-four sixth that really sounded the air raid siren. Another birdie at the eighth sent the 34-year-old out in a breezy 31.
On the back nine he shifted from “nice round” to “phone your mates” territory, picking up three more shots between the 10th and 14th, then finishing with three straight birdies for that sparkling 61 – the low round of the week so far and the sort of number that makes the rest of the field suddenly very interested in the weather forecast.
“Day’s like this almost never happen, everything felt great,” he said.
“I hit so many solid shots, holed putts but also had some more chances and missed a couple of short ones. It’s been a fantastic day and I’m still quite shocked to be honest.
“I was five under through nine and was thinking about 59 for a little bit. I am super happy; it was a fantastic day. I was focusing on every shot because it’s quite a tough course, but I feel like I was in the zone the whole day.
“It’s going to be nice being in the final group tomorrow. I’ve been there a couple of times before and tomorrow’s a new day.”
You get the feeling that if he’d actually found that 59, they might have had to rename the place Blomstrand Country Club.
Tarrio’s bogey-free 64 sets the target
While Blomstrand was busy rewriting his Airbnb review, Santiago Tarrio had already posted a number for everyone to chase. Out in the calm early-morning air on South Africa’s east coast, the Spaniard stitched together a beautifully tidy, bogey-free 64 to plant his flag at the top of the Jonsson Workwear Durban Open leaderboard.
Starting from the first, Tarrio poured in five birdies on the front nine to turn in just 31 strokes, making the most of the benign conditions before the breeze decided to join the party.
The 35-year-old, who opened with a five-under 67 on Thursday, kept the foot down with another gain at the 10th before adding back-to-back birdies on 14 and 15 to complete a second round that looked like it had been put together with a ruler and a spirit level.
“I’ve played really well the past two days,” he said.
“Yesterday I made a couple of mistakes with a double bogey and a bogey. Today I hit lots of good shots and made some putts, so, overall, it was positive.
“It was super hot out there with no breeze on the front nine. The breeze got up on the back nine which cooled me down but definitely made the course more challenging.”
Hot, sticky, and suddenly gusty – Durban serving up the full sampler platter, and Tarrio handling it like a man who rather enjoys the chaos.
Plant lurking, locals loading up
Just one shot back, Englishman Alfie Plant has the look of the slightly annoyed neighbour who’s been woken up by the party next door and has now decided to join it. His solo second place keeps him within striking distance if either of the leaders dares to blink over the weekend.
Behind him, home hopes are far from done. South African duo Oliver Bekker and Keenan Davidse, along with Spain’s Pablo Ereno – the first-round leader – share fourth on 11 under par. That trio sits one clear of a packed group at 10 under: locals Luke Brown, Jean Hugo and Louis Albertse, plus Welshman Rhys Enoch, all close enough to cause mischief.
On a course as demanding as Durban Country Club, with its tight corridors and coastal gusts, that chasing pack will fancy their chances of turning the Jonsson Workwear Durban Open into something resembling a 10-man penalty shootout by Sunday afternoon.
Final-group fireworks incoming
The third round of the Jonsson Workwear Durban Open gets under way at 6:50am local time, with the headline act set for 12:10pm as Blomstrand and Tarrio head out together in the final group.
One has just fired the round of the week, the other has gone 13 under with a bogey-free 64 as his latest calling card. Add in an Englishman on their heels, a clutch of South Africans with local knowledge to burn, and a course that toughens up the minute the wind decides it’s bored – and you’ve got a weekend in Durban that promises more drama than a rules official’s inbox.
If Blomstrand can stay “in the zone”, as he insists he was all day, and Tarrio keeps painting fairways and greens like he has been, the Jonsson Workwear Durban Open might just deliver the kind of finish that makes 61 look like the opening act.
