Doug

McGuigan

That’s worth solo fourth with the afternoon wave in action. McGuigan was born in South Africa and is an eight-time winner on the local Sunshine Tour although he now plays under the Scottish flag (his father was a professional footballer in Scotland before moving). He didn’t appear to be part of the conversation this week after shooting even-par 72 in round one and playing his first seven holes in 2-over today to flirt with the cut line. But instead of slamming his trunk, McGuigan now faces a weekend title challenge after a remarkable run of scoring which produced birdies at 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16 and 18. The 48-year-old last made a top ten on the European Tour in 2007 when T8 at the co-sanctioned Joburg Open.

The man from Durban is now 47 years old but two of his eight Sunshine Tour wins have come in 2017 (July and September). He’s kept that good form going with a further two top fives in his last four starts. McGuigan’s Joburg Open record is poor and shows missed cuts in the last five editions. However, they all came at Royal Johannesburg & Kensington and this year the tournament moves to Randpark where he made the cut in the 2000 South African Open and took T29 in the Sunshine Tour’s SAA Pro-Am Invitational in 2009 (MC in same event in 2010). On his current form, it would be no surprise to see him being a leaderboard presence.