Despite spoiling a nearly flawless card with a bogey at the par four fourth, 25-year-old De Decker from Westlake will chase a wire-to-wire maiden win after firing a second successive seven under 65 at Centurion Country Club to finish at 14 under 130.
Du Plessis, meanwhile, scorched the par-72 layout with a flawless nine-under-par 63 to surge within four shots of the overnight pacesetter.
The 19-year-old Sesambos golfer graduated the IGT Tour at the end of 2015 when he won the Sunshine Tour Qualifying School in Bloemfontein. Having survived the gruelling rookie season, Du Plessis was anxious to start his second season with a bang, but he missed out at both qualifiers for the BWM SA Open and Joburg Open.
“Its last chance saloon time now,” Du Plessis said.
“I have to shoot a low number in Tuesday’s qualifier at Woodhill Country Club to make the field for the Tshwane Open. It’s the last co-sanctioned tournament with the European Tour. I will need to push very hard to get a spot in the starting line-up.”
Du Plessis cut his teeth on the IGT Tour when he left the pro-ranks in July 2014, but regularly returns to the country’s premier development Tour in off weeks to work on his game or to stay competitive.
“That’s why I teed it up here at Centurion this week,” he said.
“I’m striking the ball really well, but my putter has been a little streaky. I came to work on the putter this week and this round has given me a jolt of confidence.”
The GFG Academy player collected a trio of birdies at 12, 13 and 14 and added another brace of gains at 16 and 17 to go five under.
“There wasn’t really any fireworks in my round, except maybe for the awesome chip I holed at the second for birdie and the three straight birdies from seven for my 63,” he said.
“I definitely left a few out there, especially on the par fives. I missed birdie chances at 15 and one, but overall I couldn’t be happier. I hit my irons really well and left most of them close, inside six feet.
“But what I’m really happy about is the putting. I really hit the putter well and barely missed all day. That leaves me really confident for next week. I’m not thinking about a win tomorrow, but I really want to shoot another low round to make sure I’m pitch perfect for Woodhill.”
Second round scores
All competitors RSA unless otherwise specified and amateurs are indicated as (AMA)130 - Andre De Decker 65 65
134 - Hennie Du Plessis 71 63
135 - Louis De Jager 67 68
136 - Daniel Hammond 67 69
137 - JC Ritchie 72 65, Tyrone Mordt 71 66
138 - Teaghan Gauche 68 70, Russel Franz 69 69
139 - Pieter Moolman 71 68, Oliver Bekker 71 68, Juan Swart 68 71
140 - Damian Naicker 73 67, Breyten Meyer 71 69
141 - Oscar Stark (SWE) 74 67, Stephan De Beer 70 71, Armandt Scholtz 66 75
142 - Dean O'Riley 68 74, Andi Dill 73 69, Ruan Huysamen (NAM) 71 71, Michael Palmer 70 72, Jake Roos 71 71, Tyrone Ryan 75 67, Eric Nel (AMA) 69 73, Arthur Horne (SWA) 70 72, Alastair Waddell (ENG) 70 72
143 - Juan Langeveld 72 71, Johnathan Agren (SWE) 74 69, Jaco Prinsloo 69 74, Michael Kok (AMA) 74 69
144 - TJ Bekker 73 71, Teboho Sefatsa 75 69, Rhys West 74 70
145 - Shaun van Tonder 75 70, NJ Arnoldi 76 69
146 - Pieter Kruger 74 72, Dayne Moore (ZAM) 75 71, CJ Levey 73 73, Thabi Ngcobo (AMA) 72 74, Fanie Wolmarans (AMA) 74 72, Dwayne Coetzee 77 69, Conway Kunneke 74 72
147 - Stefan Engell Andersen (KEN) 73 74, Gideon Pienaar 73 74, Hilton Hughes (AMA) 79 68, Romano Saincic 72 75, Thabang Simon 73 74, Joubert Spies (AMA) 75 72, Tristan Maharaj (AMA) 73 74
148 - Hanko Bothma (AMA) 77 71, Sam Botham (ENG) 74 74, Ruan Korb (AMA) 75 73
Missed the cut:-
149 - Jacques De Villiers (AMA) 74 75, Mitchell Lightfoot (AMA) 74 75, Teagan Moore (AMA) 76 73, Wayne Stroebel 72 77
150 - Danie Van Tonder 73 77, Duane Keun 76 74, Jaco Van Der Merwe (AMA) 73 77, Matthew Vogel 72 78
151 - Simon Kruger 75 76, Siphiwe Siphayi 74 77, Marais Visagie 78 73
152 - Jason Ackerman (AMA) 75 77, Jeff Hopkins (IRE) 75 77
153 - Calvin Caldeira 81 72, Bryce Bibby 80 73, Bryce Myburgh 79 74
154 - Clinton Cheia 78 76
155 - Corrie Steenkamp (AMA) 81 74
156 - Marc De Jager (AMA) 79 77, Digby Edgley (AMA) (ENG) 73 83
158 - Armand Azar (AMA) 77 81
160 - Driekus Gous (AMA) 80 80
162 - Tommie Brits (AMA) 78 84, Nicklas Van Wyk (AMA) 83 79
164 - Darryl Maistry 81 83
165 - Duan Nagel (AMA) 81 84
170 - Donald Makhafola (AMA) 85 85, Barend Swanepoel (AMA) 86 84
174 - Estiaan De Jager (AMA) 88 86
RTD - Sean Bradley (AMA) 68 RTD
ARTICLE: LALI STANDER
