Jake

Roos

The 38-year-old has only played Randpark GC once before, in the Joburg Open last year, when he twice carded 70 so he’s already ahead of schedule to make an improvement. He’s set himself up for the effort with a neat run of form in the year which has witnessed seven finishes of T8 or better, however with the exception of the Challenge Tour’s Kenyan Open they were all minor Sunshine Tour events and he missed the cut in the Mauritius Open last week. His Thursday lap was wild. He made three front nine bogeys at 2, 7 and 8, but in-between he ticked four birdies. The back nine saw no errors and another four par breakers, this time in five holes (10, 12, 13 and 14).

With scoring conditions perfect at the Himmerland Golf & Spa Resort, the South African made sure he cashed in with a bogey-free afternoon lap. His six circles all came in the first 11 holes. Roos started his birdie run at No. 3 and then added three straight from the 5th. A really low one looked on the cards after he splashed further red at 10 and 11 but he had to settle for seven closing pars to pull up three shy of the clubhouse lead. The World No. 929 is 0-for-5 on the European Tour this season so surely he’ll cash for the first time here. He missed the cut on his tournament debut 12 months ago.

Roos played a few weeks ago at the Buick Open, but he failed to make the cut. Mike Johnston of Milwaukee, Wis., Josh Esler of Wauconda, Il and Deane Pappas were the threeother Monday qualifiers. Pappas also Monday qualified for last week’s John Deere Classic, but he fail to make the cut for the weekend.

The Pretorian will have home advantage as the European Tour starts the calendar year with the South African Open Championship at Glendower Golf Club. He finished 61st in the Alfred Dunhill Championship in December, gaining early attention with an opening seven-under-par 65. At 34, Roos looks old for a rookie but he didn’t actually take up the game until the age of 16 and turned pro at 25. He cut his teeth on the Golden State Tour in California, winning six times, and even played two PGA TOUR events in 2008, but missed both cuts. With six victories on the Sunshine Tour and two on last year’s Challenge Tour he’ll be confident he can now compete with the European Tour’s elite.

Any sub-70 round at Delhi Golf Club on Friday was going to produce a leap up the leaderboard and the South African advanced 14 spots to T9. At 3-under 139 he’s seven shots off the lead held by S.S.P. Chorwasia. Roos split 10 (of 14) fairways and hit 11 greens in regulation while he kept his card tidy by going 6-for-7 in scrambling. The 34-year-old birdied 1, 8 and 12 while his only bogey of the round came at 16.