Golf: Tvesa Malik shoots 71, hangs on to 4th spot in South Africa

Cape Town: Tvesa Malik shot a 3-under 71 and stayed tied for fourth at the Standard Bank Ladies Open golf on the Sunshine Ladies Tour in South Africa. Tvesa had a 1-under on the first day of the Par-74 course.

At 4-under for two rounds with one more day to go, she is four shots behind the leader, Kyle Henry of Scotland. The first-round leader Kylie Henry of Scotland has rounds of 69-71 at 8 under for 36 holes. Tvesa had three birdies on the Par-5s from her total of six. She started the second day with a bogey but found three birdies between the third and the sixth and added three pars to turn in 2-under.

On the back, Tvesa birdied the Par-5s on the 11th and the 14th to get closer to the top before she was pulled back by bogeys on the 15th and the 17th. A closing birdie saw her finish the day at 71.

South Africans, Cassandra Alexander (74-69) and Gabrielle Venter (74-69) were tied for the shared second place at 5-under 143. Apart from Tvesa, French golfer Emie Peronnin (73-71) and England’s Florentyna Parker (73-71) were tied for fourth at 4-under 144.

The top 30 and ties made the cut, which was projected at 3-over 149.

The 54-hole tournament carries a purse of Rand 600,000 and is the fourth event on the schedule for this year.