The Cape Town Open is set to conclude with a cracking final round after Jacques Blaauw, Neil Schietekat and Santiago Tarrio grabbed a share of the lead on Saturday.
With a tricky wind making play difficult at times, the three players stood firm to rise to 11 under par during the second round.
Blaauw, one of the overnight leaders, battled bravely throughout to sign off with a round of 70, while both Schietekat and Tarrio moved into contention with rounds of 67.
Schietekat, in particular, was impressive as he went bogey free throughout his round, while adding three valuable birdies.
READ: Blaauw co-leader in Cape Town
Tarrio, on the other hand, made a great push on the back nine by rolling in three birdies and an eagle to climb up the leaderboard.
The stretch proved a bit more tricky for Blaauw, who held a three-shot lead heading into the 15th hole but having found water from the tee on the par three, he settled for a double-bogey that hindered his round somewhat.
‘It all went according to plan except for one hole. I just made one bad swing. I thought it would clear the water but the ball just kind of stalled in the air. But, overall I’m very pleased,’ Blaauw said after the day’s play.
For Schietekat, though, it was a great opportunity to make his move after consecutive rounds of 69 on the opening two rounds.
‘You know that Saturday is moving day and you need to shoot around the 68 or 67 mark to move anywhere, and I shot 67. I hit some good and bad shots, and made some great up-and-downs. There was a lot of scrambling today but sometimes you have to do that on days when you’re not hitting the ball so well. I’ll tighten that up on the range before the final round,’ he added.
The trio hold a two-shot lead over Spaniard Emilio Cuartero Blanco, Swede Mikael Lindberg and New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier, who are all on nine under par for the week.
Sunday’s final round will tee off just after 8am with SuperSport once again set to broadcast live from 12-3pm.
Photo: Carl Fourie/Gallo Images
