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“I’m feeling good. I haven’t been in this position for quite a while, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow to really be in contention again. Today gave me a lot of confidence. I didn’t play that well, but I held it together nicely and made sure I was in the right position for tomorrow,” he said.
The Sunshine Tour veteran stayed cool, keeping bogeys from his card and securing his place atop the leaderboard of the R1-million tournament, one point clear of Christiaan Basson and Danie van Tonder.
“I played nicely,” said Botes. “Not as good as yesterday, but I held it together and made a couple of clutch putts for par. “The game is solid, and it gives me confidence to sink a few putts. I’m getting it off the tee and making a lot of fairways, a lot of greens.”
Van Tonder made an incredible 21 points, vaulting up the leaderboard and into a share of second.
“I was hitting the ball well,” he said. “And chipping well, which is the secret of these greens – chip and putt. It’s completely different being here for the first time – the more birdies the more points. I’ve been attacking the pins quite a lot, I don’t actually lay-up on this course.”
The 21-year-old, who finished tied 29th at the Africa Open in January, enjoyed the round and its outcome. “It would be nice if I could win this. I’m standing with a chance after I came back today. I made one eagle, eight birdies and the rest were pars, so it was a fun day,” he said.
Basson’s consistent style was rewarded on Friday, and his steady 11 points earned him a spot in the last match.
“I’m playing solidly – I made a lot of birdies and I was fortunate to play so nicely. I had a bit of a disappointing finish, but I have to look at the overall picture and I shot a good score. It was a good day.
“I had a solid week, and yesterday I had really good day. I’m feeling good – I’m excited to be in this position, because you’re always going to learn when you’re in the final three-ball, no matter how it turns out. Hopefully tomorrow has a positive outcome,” he said.
Botes was keen on victory and had a plan for the final round on Saturday. “We have to take it on in this format. All you can do is hit shot-by-shot as good as you can and hopefully it’s good enough,” he said.
Scores:39 - Desvonde Botes 11 18 10
38 - Danie van Tonder 4 13 21, Christiaan Basson 10 17 11
35 - Oliver Bekker 4 16 15, Dean Burmester 11 14 10
34 - Albert Pistorius 14 6 14
33 - Wallie Coetsee 10 12 11
32 - Toto Thimba (Jnr) 12 10 10, Jake Roos 11 16 5
31 - Daniel Greene 11 11 9, Brandon Pieters 14 5 12
30 - Charl Coetzee 15 7 8, Neil Schietekat 11 10 9, Merrick Bremner 8 14 8, Des Terblanche 20 2 8
29 - Allan Versfeld 5 9 15, Trevor Fisher Jnr 15 1 13
28 - Tyrone Ferreira 14 5 9
27 - Theunis Spangenberg 10 13 4
26 - Adilson Da Silva (BRA) 8 4 14, Johan du Buisson 4 9 13, Ockie Strydom 13 4 9, Andrew Curlewis 7 10 9, Louis de Jager 11 7 8
25 - Divan van den Heever 7 8 10, Justin Harding 11 8 6, Ruan de Smidt 8 11 6
24 - Lindani Ndwandwe 8 3 13, Doug McGuigan -1 15 10, Jacques Blaauw 12 4 8
23 - Alan McLean (SCO) 14 -4 13, Jaco Ahlers 3 10 10, Colin Nel 9 7 7, Andrew Georgiou 6 10 7, Vaughn Groenewald 12 4 7
22 - Justin Walters 9 6 7, Teboho Sefatsa 11 7 4
21 - Bryce Easton 17 -1 5
19 - Neil Cheetham (ENG) 4 6 9, Henk Alberts -1 11 9, PH McIntyre 6 6 7, Titch Moore 8 7 4, Matthew Carvell 7 8 4
18 - Tyrone Ryan 10 0 8
17 - Bruce McDonald (ZIM) 12 1 4
16 - Ryan Tipping 6 11 -1
15 - Lyle Rowe 0 12 3, Andre Cruse 8 5 2
14 - James Kamte 10 7 -3
13 - Mark Murless 6 8 -1
11 - Tyrone Mordt 3 11 -3
