Graeme Storm made an early birdie to maintain his two-shot lead on day three of the BMW SA Open hosted by City of Ekurhuleni.
Storm was handed a reprieve last season after losing his card by just 100 euros when Patrick Reed opted not to play the Final Series, allowing the Englishman to keep his playing privileges.
A tie for fourth at the Alfred Dunhill Championship provided an excellent start to the season and he continued to make the best of his second chance at Glendower Golf Club.
A birdie on the second got him to 13 under after three holes and handed him the advantage over home favourite Trevor Fisher Jnr and American Peter Uihlein.
World Number Two Rory McIlroy - who nearly withdrew from the event yesterday and is having treatment on a back injury - was then at ten under alongside English pair Laurie Canter and Jordan L Smith, and South African Jbe Kruger.
The par five second was gettable and McIlroy and David Drysdale both made birdies before Fisher, Canter and Smith - playing together in the penultimate group - all followed suit.
That moved Fisher to within a shot of the leader while there were six players in the group at ten under at that point.
Uihlein also made a birdie on the second to join Fisher in a share for second but that was soon two shots back as Storm made his first birdie of the day.
Kruger had dropped a shot on the second but an excellent tee-shot saw him regain it on the third, while Drysdale dropped a shot on the fourth.
The back nine has been where the best of the scoring has been all week and Edoardo Molinari continued that trend as he turned in 30 from the tenth, picking up five birdies in a row from the 11th and another on the 17th.
That left him at nine under alongside Drysdale, Thomas Aiken, Dean Burmester, Keith Horne and Richard S Johnson.
