Patient Nolan just three back in SDC Open in South Africa

Liam Nolan hopes his tactical approach pays off after a five-under 67 left him just three shots off the lead heading into the weekend in the SDC Open in South Africa.

The Galwayman (24) is playing on an invitation at Zebula Golf Estate & Spa. But he’s not putting himself under pressure to take advantage of his HotelPlanner Tour (formerly Challenge Tour) start and just hoping to keep hitting fairways at the challenging Limpopo venue.

“I just kind of picked up from where I left off yesterday,” said Nolan, who shares fifth place on eight under par, just three shots behind home player Altin van der Merwe, after backing up his bogey-free first round 69.

“I suppose at times there was a bit more scrambling going on today, but I also holed a couple more putts, which I struggled with yesterday.”

Van der Merwe added a 67 to his opening 66 to lead by a shot from compatriots Jason Roets and Nikhil Rama and Frenchman Sebastian Gros on 11-under.

But Nolan, who has a full Alps Tour card but only a lowly A1 category on the Challenge Tour, is lurking in a tie for fifth on eight-under.

He birdied the second, sixth, eighth and ninth to turn in 32, then followed his first bogey of the week at the 12th with an eagle three at the 15th.

“I knew I was swinging it yesterday, so I had a great warm-up today,” Nolan said. “So it's just about going out and trusting it like I did yesterday again, and it worked, and I got some better reads on the green today as well.

“It’s great confidence shooting those two rounds going into the weekend.”

While Max Kennedy shot a second successive 73 to miss the cut by four strokes, Nolan is well placed and has no reason to change his game plan at the weekend.

“I just hit fairways,” Nolan said. “The greens are so firm and the rough can be a bit patchy sometimes. So if you can get in the fairway, you can control your ball going into the green and get at these pins, which are nearly impossible to attack from the rough.

“So if that means for me this week, you know, not hitting driver on every hole and just making sure I hit the fairway, then that's what we've been doing so far, and it's been working really well.”

Nolan knows a good result this week could change his status on the tour and lead to more starts, but he’s not getting ahead of himself.

“It's great to be in this position so early in the year, but as in terms of approach, I'm just going to go out and do the same things I've been doing the first two days,” he said.

“Chatting through every shot really well with my caddie, making sure we have a good picture of what we want to do in the course, and then just executing as best I can.“

As for the pressure to take advantage of his invitations, he said: “I mean, it is important, but at the end of the day, you can't be putting too much pressure on yourself.

“Just go out and try as well as you can on every shot and enjoy it. So that's the way I look at it.

“You’ve just got to enjoy these weeks, and hopefully, you can play some good golf alongside.”