He made the course look straightforward, recording 10 birdies and an eagle. “It’s my lowest on the Sunshine Tour for sure, and it’s tied my best score. Usually things go your way when you’re that low. I left a few putts short at the start of the round and realised the greens are slower than what we’re used to here because of all the rain. I got the hang of pitching it at the flag and taking advantage of how well I’m playing from tee to green. I could be very aggressive from the fairway,” said Follet-Smith (via Sunshine Tour). With a chance to shoot a 59, the 31-year-old admitted he had miscalculated, but said he was still proud of his performance, adding that he had taken inspiration from defending champion Wilco Nienaber’s display last year. “I honestly thought I was 11 under with one hole to play. Unfortunately, we added up incorrectly. So the 59 didn’t happen, but it’s okay because the whole day worked out in the end. “You want to take as much as you can from Outeniqua. Wilco did that last year when he won, so I took a leaf out of his book and luckily it worked out for me,” he said. Starting on the 10th, Follet-Smith birdied the 11th and 12th, then added three consecutive birdies at the 16th, 17th and 18th for an inward 31. After the turn, he produced three more birdies in succession at the first, second and third, followed by further gains at the fifth and sixth. He eagled the eighth for a back-nine 29. Second-placed Senekal also enjoyed a bogey-free round, carding a nine-under-par 63 with nine birdies.