Luke Donald recovered from a shaky start to share the lead with Richard Bland as the second round of the weather-affected Nedbank Golf Challenge was completed at Gary Player Country Club.
The European Ryder Cup captain started day three in a share of the lead having completed three holes before the hooter sounded on Friday but two early bogeys saw him fall back in Sun City.
Three birdies in five holes after the turn then catapulted him back to the summit but a three-putt on the last saw him sign for a 71 and slip back to eight under alongside Bland, who carded a 68.
South African Branden Grace was a shot back after a 67, one clear of Kiwi Ryan Fox and Dane Rasmus Højgaard.
The @RyderCupEurope captain is putting on a short game clinic in South Africa 💯#NGC2022 | @LukeDonald pic.twitter.com/sGU7AAU99J
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) November 12, 2022
Fox entered the week looking to chase down Rory McIlroy in the DP World Tour Rankings in Partnership with Rolex and held the lead after 18 holes.
His 74 in round two was ten shots more than his opening effort but he showed plenty of battling qualities to keep himself right in the mix for a third win of the season.
Donald is playing on an invite this week but the 44-year-old clearly has more than a Ryder Cup watching brief on his mind as he seeks an eighth DP World Tour win and first in a decade.
"It was reasonably steady," he said. "I think we were fortunate to get this round in, it looked like it would be raining all day.
"You could make some birdies out there but none of us really caught fire in our group. It was still a good, steady round. Some good shots in there.
"It’s been fun. It’s been a while since I’ve been in this position. I’ll try to enjoy it."
Fellow Englishman Bland lost out in a play-off earlier this season at the Dubai Desert Classic and a win this week would move him into the top ten in the Rankings heading into next week's season finale.
"Tee to green has been good," he said. "I’ve not missed a lot of fairways. If I have, I’ve missed it by a yard. Hit a lot of greens. I’ve kept mistakes down to a minimum, only made one bogey. I’ve made one poor swing on 12 yesterday. Other than that, it’s been right where I want it."
Fox led alone as playing partner Donald failed to get up and down on the fourth but the Kiwi dropped a shot of his own as he found sand twice on the next.
He hit straight back from 15 feet on the sixth and while Donald failed to get up and down again on the seventh, the lead stayed at one with Gavin Green holing a 30-footer for an eagle on the 14th.
A lost ball off the eighth tee then led to a Fox double-bogey and Green led by two after putting a beautiful approach to nine feet at the 17th.
There was soon a three-way tie, however, as Green bogeyed his final hole after finding sand with his second, while Fox and Donald both took advantage of the par-five tenth.
Rasmus Højgaard from 250 yards to 3ft for eagle 🎯#NGC2022 pic.twitter.com/SIoc6LvGKw
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) November 12, 2022
Højgaard leapfrogged into the lead with a remarkable eagle at the 14th as he put his second from 252 yards to four feet but he soon had Donald for company when the Englishman recovered from a poor tee-shot at the 13th to make a birdie from 19 feet.
A three-putt at the 15th dropped Højgaard out of the lead and Donald put a wedge to ten feet after laying up at the 14th, with Fox also birdieing the par five to keep the advantage to just one.
The two-time winner in 2022 made remarkable par saves on the 15th and 17th after finding trees and water but a three-putt in between on the 16th meant that Bland was the nearest challenger after making birdies on the third, tenth, 14th and 16th.
Donald's three-putt then put Bland in a share of the lead, with Fox also making a bogey after a ragged tee-shot.
Grace had earlier made five birdies in six holes from the ninth in a bogey-free 67, while Højgaard bogeyed the last in a 69.
Green finished round two at seven under but tumbled down the leaderboard after a poor start to round three.
