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Ezulwini - Andrew Georgiou carded a second-round 67 at Royal Swazi Golf Club to rejoin the Lombard Insurance Classic lead, and will head into Sunday at 12-under-par and brimming with confidence.
"It's going to be exciting. It won't be about who can hold on, it's going to be about who makes the most birdies and keeps the pedal on the floor. Keep your seatbelts on - it's going to be a good one," he said.
Georgiou started on the 10th and played solid golf throughout the day for a five-under-par second round, which drew him level with Justin Harding ahead of the final round on Sunday.
"Putts keep falling and I keep hitting good shots. I know I'm playing well so the confidence is there, and patience is paying off," said Georgiou.
His playing partners kept the 26-year-old relaxed as he made his way round the 6140-metre track. And being relaxed help him to keep steady.
"I was happy-go-lucky and had fun playing with my amateurs today," he said.
"They were relaxed and putts were falling, drives were landing on the fairway, so I enjoyed it.
"Today's(Saturday) round was a far more consistent round. I hit the ball good from start to finish and shot 34, 33. It was good, consistent golf, so it's probably even better than what I did yesterday. The score might not reflect that, but mentally it was a good round."
The Somerset West local was keen to take on his neighbour over Sunday's final 18 and added: "I see Justin Harding is up there. We're two Somerset West boys and it will be fun to play with Justin in the final group. We've spoken about it before, and tomorrow we will have our chance."
With 11 top-20 finishes on the Sunshine Tour, Georgiou is no stranger to contention and was excited by the prospect of a good result.
"Last year I finished 65th on the Order of Merit, and I nearly had exemption for the bigger events. This year I've decided to play a few more events and make sure I'm exempt, so a win here would be fantastic," he said.
Jean Hugo produced an eagle and a birdie late in his round to finish just one stroke back from the lead, putting himself into the final match tomorrow. He won the Royal Swazi Open in 2008, so he knows the course and how to do well here, which makes him a danger man tomorrow.
A further stroke back at 10-under-par, Jacques Blaauw will head into the final round in sole fourth, and needs to work hard in order to reign in the front-runners.
He will be joined by Christiaan Basson, who shot a Saturday 67 to reach nine-under-par. Basson won the Investec Royal Swazi Open at this course a month ago, so he clearly likes the track.
SCORES (RSA unless otherwise specified):
132 - Justin Harding 68 64, Andrew Georgiou 65 67
133 - Jean Hugo 65 68
134 - Jacques Blaauw 67 67
135 - Christiaan Basson 68 67
136 - Jake Roos 66 70, Mark Murless 66 70, Divan van den Heever 68 68, Louis de Jager 69 67, Michiel Bothma 70 66,Albert Pistorius 66 70
137 - Attie Schwartzel 69 68, Ryan Tipping 67 70, Adilson Da Silva (BRA) 71 66, Tyrone Mordt 69 68, Merrick Bremner 68 69
138 - Colin Nel 68 70, PH McIntyre 66 72, David Hewan 68 70, Johan du Buisson 69 69
139 - Oliver Bekker 69 70, Justin Walters 69 70, Danie van Tonder 68 71, Allan Versfeld 70 69, Toto Thimba (Jnr) 70 69, Doug McGuigan 70 69,Matthew Carvell 71 68
140 - Tyrone Ryan 68 72, Jaco Ahlers 69 71, Brandon Pieters 70 70, Dean O'Riley 71 69, Joshua Cunliffe 72 68, Des Terblanche 69 71,Peter Karmis 71 69
141 - Ulrich van den Berg 74 67, Michael Hollick 74 67, Bryce Easton 71 70
142 - Neil Schietekat 71 71, Andre Cruse 70 72, Lindani Ndwandwe 71 71, Andrew Curlewis 71 71, Desvonde Botes 72 70,Charl Coetzee 69 73, Bradford Vaughan 70 72, Thabang Simon 74 68
143 - Ockie Strydom 74 69, Wallie Coetsee 71 72
144 - Neil Cheetham (ENG) 71 73, JG Claassen 72 72, Trevor Fisher Jnr 75 69, Omar Sandys 72 72
Missed the cut:-
145 - Alan Michell 74 71, Shaun Norris 73 72, Daniel Greene 72 73, Grant Muller 73 72, Hendrik Buhrmann 73 72, Derick Petersen 74 71,Steve Basson 75 70, Theunis Spangenberg 76 69, Vaughn Groenewald 71 74, Prinavin Nelson 71 74
146 - Mark Fensham 72 74, Teboho Sefatsa 78 68, Divan Gerber 74 72
147 - Titch Moore 78 69, Francois Coetzee 76 71, Meshack Zwane (SWZ) 72 75
148 - Dion Fourie 72 76
149 - Johan Bekker 77 72, Chris Swanepoel 76 73
154 - Alpheus Kelapile 77 77
