Schaper tames Royal Joburg wind for early Dunhill lead

Jaden “Mr Precision” Schaper posted a flawless, bogey-free, eight-under-par 64 in blustery morning conditions at Royal Johannesburg on Friday to take the second round clubhouse lead in the Alfred Dunhill Championship.

Meticulous in his approach to golf, the 24-year-old South African – starting his round at the 10th hole – birdied holes 13, 15, 17 and 18. Then on the front nine, he picked up shots at holes 1, 6, 7 and 8 in a fast finish.

Jayden Schaper shoots a second round bogey-free 64 to lead the way in Johannesburg 🇿🇦#DunhillChamps pic.twitter.com/38EBjkUasg

He was on 13-under 131 through 36 holes, with Danie van Tonder on 134 his closest challenger of those who had completed their rounds. Playing partner Louis Oosthuizen was on 10 under.

Schaper’s excellent golf comes after finishing joint second with England’s Don Bradbury, just one behind winner Kristoffer Reitan of Norway, in last week’s Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City.

“I’m playing well and so pleased to be 13-under at this stage because I was off to a slow start in the first round here,” said Schaper, referring to the fact that he bogeyed four of the first seven holes he played yesterday. “It wasn’t that I was playing badly. It was just that I was having difficulty judging the yardages here on the Highveld. Once I sorted that out, the birdies started dropping.”

Jayden Schaper makes five birdies in seven holes early on Friday to co-lead 💪

This is how it currently stands at the top 📊#DunhillChamps pic.twitter.com/dujms52uNg — DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) December 12, 2025

It’s a bit of a cliché but Schaper is known for being able to shape the ball well, and his putter was hot on his way to 64. At the treacherous par-5 sixth hole, where to reach the green in two the approach is a long one over water, he faced a tricky 12-footer for birdie. But in it went. And at the par-5 eighth, he hit his second into a very difficult spot in a greenside bunker. His splash shot was well executed from a tight lie, but the ball rolled about 15 feet past the pin.

“I couldn’t have done much better than that with the bunker shot,” he said. But, again, in went the putt for a birdie. “That was probably my best birdie out there today,” he said.