NATIONAL NEWS - South Africa’s Jason Smith fought hard for a share of the third round lead with Ewen Ferguson from Scotland in the South African Stroke Play Championship on Thursday.
Smith overcome a nervous bogey to card a five under 67 at the Blue Valley Golf and Country Club finish at 17-under-par 199 with joint halfway leader Ferguson, who eagled the closing hole for a 68.
Ireland’s Stuart Grehan closed with back-to-back birdies and a 68 that left him one back of the co-leaders, while Tim Widing’s 69 will see the Swede start the final round three off the pace.
South Africa’s Aubrey Beckley held a share of the 36-hole lead and remained at 13 under with a 72.
Former Nomads SA Boys U-19 Match Play champion launched into the mix with a blistering 64 and tied for sixth at 12 under with Southern Cape’s Brandon Cloete, who also carded 72.
Ross Sinclair – the reigning Nomads SA Boys U-19 Match Play champion – notched five birdies in his last six holes to vault to joint eighth on 11 under alongside Jack Hume. The Irish lad, who ranks 21st in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, signed for a 68.
Such has been the low scoring the Gary Player designed championship layout this week that Smith established a new course record 64 in the first round, but saw his target broken twice – first by Widing, who carded a 63 early in the second round and then by Grehan, who fired a 10 under par 62 late on Wednesday afternoon.
Smith edged out Scotland’s Bradley Neil, Dermot McElroy from Ireland and compatriot Stefan Cronje to lift the 2014 South African Stroke Play Championship title by one stroke at Benoni Country Club.
He bogeyed the opening par-four first, but rallied with his first pair birdies at five and six.
Another brace of gains at 12 and 13 and a third pair at 17 and 18 left him with a chance to enjoy a repeat performance, but the 19-year-old Irene golfer knows he will have to keep his foot on the pedal.
“The scores are going to be low on Friday, so will have to shoot low to have a chance,” he said.
“The course is in pristine condition and the greens are receptive. Even though the set-up is tough, the guys are firing at the pins. There're still a lot of guys who can hit a hot streak in the final round to win, so I am just going to keep doing everything that I've been doing.”
Ferguson, who fired a flawless second round 64 to join Beckley in pole position on Wednesday, had a great run with birdies at one, three, four, six and eight, but bogeyed the ninth to turn four under.
Battling fatigue on the back nine, the 19-year-old Bearsden golfer dropped further shots at 11 and 16, but the arrival of his Scottish Golf Union National Squad team-mates at 18 did the trick.
“I hit a hard six-iron to 20 feet and popped the ball in the hole,” Ferguson said. “My caddie said if I made birdie at 18, he would carry the bag to the car, so I guess you can say I made double sure.
“Seriously, though, the guys pitching up at 18 was just what I needed. It was great to finish on a high note and get a round of high fives.”
Ferguson held a share of the lead in 2014 and 2015 and knows he will have a fight on his hands to cross the finish line this year.
“The leaderboard is very tight and any guy within six or seven shots from Jason and I could potentially hit another course record and beat us to the podium,” he said.
THIRD ROUND SCORES (All players RSA unless otherwise indicated):
199 Ewen Ferguson SCO 67 64 68; Jason Smith 64 68 67
200 Stuart Grehan IRL 70 62 68
202 Tim Widing SWE 70 63 69
203 Aubrey Beckley 65 66 72
204 Paul Boshoff 68 72 64; Brandon Cloete 66 66 72
205 Rosswell Sinclair 70 70 65; Jack Hume IRL 67 70 68
206 Jovan Rebula 69 65 72; Philip Geerts ITA 67 70 69; Luke Trocado 66 69 71
207 Kyle Barker 72 67 68; Cameron Moralee 69 69 69; Bob MacIntyre SCO 67 70 70; Scott Gibson SCO 65 75 67
208 Marco Steyn 73 65 70; James du Preez 71 68 69; Rowan Lester IRL 70 64 74; David-Louis Nortje 69 70 69; Matt Saulez 69 69 70; Estiaan Conradie 68 75 65; Connor Syme SCO 68 68 72; Grant Forrest SCO 66 70 72
209 Colm Campbell IRL 73 67 69; Albert Venter 72 67 70; Alex Gleeson IRL 70 69 70; Robin Roussel FRA 69 67 73; Sandy Scott SCO 67 71 71
210 Herman Loubser 70 73 67; Ugo Coussaud FRA 70 70 70; Jade Buitendag 69 71 70; Craig Ross SCO 69 70 71
211 Robin Dawson IRL 73 70 68; Divan Marais 73 68 70; David Meyers 72 71 68; Therion Nel 72 69 70; Marcus Svensson SWE 72 65 74; Jamie Bower ENG 71 71 69; Altin van der Merwe 71 67 73; Jamie Savage SCO 70 72 69; Charles Almeida FRA 69 73 69; Clifford Thompson 69 68 74; Ryan Dreyer 68 73 70; Dermot McElroy IRL 68 70 73; Dylan Mostert 67 70 74
212 Andre Nel 72 71 69; Alfie Plant ENG 72 69 71; Angus Ellis-Cole 70 70 72
213 Paul Kinnear ENG 75 68 70; Johannes Axell SWE 73 67 73; Hendrikus Stoop 72 71 70; Fezekile Kana 71 70 72; Hennie O’Kennedy 71 69 73; Robert Foley SUI 70 70 73; Pontus Nyholm SWE 70 68 75; Kieran Vincent ZIM 69 70 74; Victor Veyret FRA 67 75 71; Michele Cea ITA 67 73 73
214 Michael Sherriff 73 70 71
215 Michael Pienaar 73 70 72; Keegan Mclachlan 72 68 75; Justin Kersten ZIM 70 73 72; Dylan Kok 68 75 72
216 Carlo O’Reilly 74 67 75; Clayton Mansfield 72 67 77; Dylan Naidoo 71 70 75; Philip Kruse 70 72 74
217 Louis Albertse 69 73 75; Keelan Africa 69 72 76
218 Elmo Barnard 69 74 75
219 Danie Viljoen 69 74 76
221 Neswill Croy 70 71 80
Ewen Ferguson from Scotland. Photo: Ernest Blignault.
