Daniel van Tonder, Jaco Prinsloo and Oliver Bekker hold a two-stroke lead ahead of Sunday’s final round at the South African Players Championship in Johannesburg.
Van Tonder carded a brilliant nine-under-par 63 for his third round on Saturday to move into contention at the Dainfern Golf Estate. Jaco Prinsloo joined him there with a 66 after lipping out for an eagle on the last that would’ve given him the sole lead, while Oliver Bekker completed the trio with his bogey-free 67.
But with the kind of scoring in this tournament – including a halfway cut of six under par – the three leaders are all on 18 under par after three days’ action.
‘This course isn’t that long, so most of the holes are birdie holes. But saying that, you’ve still got to hit the fairways here because the rough is thick,’ said Van Tonder, who has been in superb form since golf’s restart with the Rise-Up Series last year.
READ: Roos set for big weekend at Dainfern
‘It’s going to feel like a shootout on the final day,’ added Bekker. ‘You can’t play defensively because every hole is an opportunity to score. In the third round I just didn’t really capitalise on the front nine, and then finally made something happen on the back nine.’
Prinsloo is also eager to capitalise on his situation but is not getting ahead of himself, given how quickly things can change on Sunday.
Daniel van Tonder tops the Players Championship leaderboard at @DainfernGolf Estate at the end of day three. ?️♂️???
Great performance from Van Tonder who also achieved the low round of the day. @DanieVanTonder_ #SunshineTour #GreatnessBeginsHere#SSGolf pic.twitter.com/bmimUTFyQb
— Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour) March 13, 2021
‘This course gives you the opportunities. I think it will help if you can get off to a fast start in the final round and try and keep the rest of the field at bay, but having said that, it usually comes down to the final few holes on the back nine.’
Jacques Kruyswijk and Jake Roos are the closest contenders in T4 on 16 under par.
