Christiaan Bezuidenhout carded a three under par round of 69 and his third successive bogey-free back nine as he moved into a two-stroke lead after the third round of the Dimension Data Pro-Am.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout carded a three under par round of 69 and his third successive bogey-free back nine as he moved into a two-stroke lead after the third round of the Dimension Data Pro-Am.
The South African leads at Fancourt Golf Estate on 20 under par and is two shots clear of Santiago Tarrio Ben and George Coetzee, who share second place on 18 under par following another day of high quality golf.
Bezuidenhout, who won the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters hosted by the Sergio Garcia Foundation on the European Tour last year, will head into the final day as the man to catch after a pleasing third round display.
“It could’ve been even better today,” he said. “Tee to green, I felt like I played really well. The greens are firm so it’s tough to get it close to the holes. It’s a pity that I couldn’t make the putts on 16 and 18.
“The greens, I feel, are tougher to read on Montagu as there’s quite a bit of grain and a lot of break in them. I’m please with my three under.”
The final round of the Dimension Data Pro-Am will be played on the Montagu course and Bezuidenhout will look to add his name to a glittering roll of honour by earning victory on Sunday.
“All of the guys have played on the Montagu course over the last few days so everyone knows how it plays and how the greens roll,” he said. “I’m just going to go out there and try and give myself chances and hopefully I can make some more putts than I did today.
“There are quite a few big names on the trophy so I would like to put my name down there as well. Hopefully I can pull it off tomorrow by just playing my game and hoping it comes off.”
Tarrio Ben continued his pursuit of a first European Challenge Tour title with a patient one under par round of 72 on The Links course, while Coetzee carded seven birdies and two eagles on his way to signing for a seven under par round of 65 on the Montagu.
Two shots behind the duo in second place is six-time European Tour winner Richard Sterne on 16 under par, a single stroke ahead of Jake Roos, who makes up the top five on 15 under.
The low round of the day was shared by Oscar Lengden, Jayden Schaper and Aron Zemmer, who all carded eight under par rounds of 64, with Lengden and Zemmer both leaping inside the cut line, while Schaper jumped 50 places into the top ten with one round to play.
The team competition, where each professional is joined with an amateur partner, is currently led by England’s Matt Ford and Rob Hersov and South Africans Louis de Jager and Sam Hackner on 29 under par.
All players have now played one round apiece on each of The Links, Outeniqua and Montagu courses and the 64 players who have made the cut will play the final round on the Montagu on Sunday.
