Amateurs miss BMW South African Open Cut

EKURHULENI, South Africa (January 14, 2017) -- When BMW South African Open second round play resumed Saturday morning all South Africa amateurs Kyle McClatchie and Marco Steyn could do was sit and await their fates. Both players finished their second rounds Friday at Glendower Golf Club even-par and tied for 68th but thunder and lightening forced the conclusion of the round to be suspended until Saturday morning. Hovering around the cut line, the two were forced to watch on as they unfortunately finished one- stroke off the 1-under or better 36-hole cut.

Among those missing the cut at even-par are two- time British Open winner Ernie Els and 2014 Ryder Cup clincher Jamie Donaldson.

McClatchie fell back to level for the tournament after beginning Friday 1-under. The day got off to a rocky start as McClatchie went bogey-birdie-bogey to begin his round and drop to even-par. Following six consecutive pars McClatchie dropped another stroke with a bogey on No. 10 and it wasn't until the final hole did the 2016 Boland Amateur Open winner find another birdie.

Despite a 7th hole double-bogey Steyn made sizable move up the leaderboard on day two and went from a tie for 94th at 2-over and into the tie for 68th, a leap of 28 spots. Steyn was able to overcome the double- bogey and an additional bogey with birdies on Nos. 2, 5, 10, 11 and 15.

In 2016 Steyn reached the semifinals in the Northern Amateur Open and South African Amateur while also sharing fourth at the Cape Province Amateur and Central Gauteng Amateur Open.

Here is a look at how the rest of the amateurs fared in the first two rounds:

Jovan Rebula (T101, +3)
Philip Geerts (T111, +4)
Juran Dreyer (T129, +6)
Craig Ross (T129, +6)
Theunis Bezuidenhout (T140, +7)
Darin De Smidt (T148, +10)
Dylan Naidoo (T154, +11)

ROUND ONE RECAP

South Africa's own Kyle McClatchie is the low amateur after the first round of the BMW South African Open thanks to a 1-under 71. McClatchie is currently tied for 43rd place but at the same time only five-strokes off the first round 6-under pace set by South African's Keith Horne and Trevor Fisher Jr.

After parring the opening hole at Glendower Golf Club, McClatchie birdied the 2nd and 8th holes to reach 2-under. However, he gave those shots back and more with a 9th hole double-bogey and back-to-back bogeys on 10 and 11. Now at 2-over McClatchie was forced to scratch his way back into the red with 12th and 13th hole birdies and then a round capping birdie on the 18th hole. The 1- under 71 that McClatchie put together was three- strokes better than fellow countrymen and two-time Champion Golfer of the Year Ernie Els.

Here is a look at how the rest of the amateurs fared in the first round:

Jovan Rebula (T77, +1)
Marco Steyn (T96, +2)
Theunis Bezuidenhout (T96, +2)
Philip Geerts (T112, +3)
Darin De Smidt (T112, +3)
Dylan Naidoo (T134, +5)
Craig Ross (T147, +7)
Juran Dreyer (T155, +9)