South Africa's Zander Lombard recovered from a poor start to shoot a level-par 72 and retain the lead after the third round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge at the Gary Player Country Club on Saturday.
AFP
Lombard's 11-under-par total of 205 kept him one shot ahead of fellow countryman Louis Oosthuizen (71) and Belgium's Thomas Detry (69).
On a day when sub-70 scores were a rarity, Oliver Wilson of England soared up the leaderboard with a five-under-par 67 to share fourth place on eight-under with Sweden's Marcus Kinhult (70).
Chasing a first prize of $2.5 million, Lombard saw his overnight two-shot lead disappear when he dropped three shots over the first eight holes, largely because of erratic tee shots on a demanding course.
But birdies on successive par-fives at 10 and 11 started his fightback.
Lombard, who lost his European Tour card in 2017 and had to survive qualifying school last year to regain his status, has yet to win on the tour.
If he can close out the win it will almost treble the career earnings of a player ranked 234th in the world.
A finish in the top eight will earn him a place in next week’s season-ending Tour championship in Dubai.
Detry is also seeking a first win and for much of the round he maintained what he described as "stress-free" golf, in contrast to his rollercoaster second round when he suffered five penalty strokes in making 71.
Defending champion Lee Westwood had a solid round of 69 to move into a five-way tie for sixth place on 210. Also on six-under was Race to Dubai leader Bernd Wiesberger, who fired a 70.
