Staff WriterKieran Vincent didn’t just play golf on Saturday—he performed a veritable symphony of shot-making at Royal Johannesburg’s East Course, producing an unblemished 11-under-par 61 that defied both logic and gravity.
Not a bogey in sight, and not a shred of doubt that the Zimbabwean has his sights locked on a second Sunshine Tour title.
Now perched atop the leaderboard at 16-under, Vincent leads the Waterfall City Tournament of Champions supported by Attacq and WCMC with the confidence of a man who’s just seen the golf gods smile back at him.
“I’ve been playing some good golf and my team has been working really hard behind the scenes to get to this point, and we were talking about how good golf is just in front of me.
I think we’re seeing glimpses of this now,” said Vincent, whose poise belied the meteorological chaos that descended on Johannesburg.
Make no mistake—this was no walk in the park. The course may have been trimmed to a composite nine-hole format for this tournament, but the swirling weather and high stakes made for a psychological minefield. That didn’t bother Vincent one bit.
He stitched together five birdies on the front nine, and then rattled off six more on the back, including a stretch of five in a row that had spectators rubbing their eyes.
His Saturday form was a total rebuke to the horror show that opened his second round—a triple bogey on the very first hole.
But Vincent, clearly more rhino than rabbit, didn’t flinch. He bounced back with a torrent of birdies Friday afternoon and rode that wave straight into his low-round heroics.
“I made a bunch of birdies coming in yesterday and kept that momentum today,” he explained.
“I was a bit nervous after the triple bogey start yesterday so I just wanted to get through the first hole and see a putt go in today. We got lucky in that stretch of five birdies in a row, and I’m just thankful.”
Trailing four shots behind is Daniel van Tonder, last season’s Courier Guy Order of Merit champion, who fired a tidy 66 to sit at 12-under.
Van Tonder’s consistency keeps him in contention, but if Kieran Vincent brings anything resembling Saturday’s thunder into Sunday’s final round, the rest of the field might be playing for second.
Further back is the always-steady Pieter Moolman, who carded a 69 to stay in the conversation at 10-under.
The South African PGA Champion will need a scorching final round and perhaps a divine intervention or two to reel in Vincent.
Meanwhile, in the women’s ranks, Tandi McCallum leads the Sunshine Ladies Tour professionals at one under par after posting her own 69—a fine round that deserves more attention if the men weren’t busy torching scorecards.
With weather still lurking and the pressure of a title hanging thick in the South African air, the final round promises fireworks. But if Kieran Vincent stays in this kind of groove, he may just waltz to the winner’s circle with the same ease he strolled through Saturday’s round.
