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Kitwe – In what turned out to be a tightly contested round three of the Zambia Open at Nkana Golf Club on Saturday, Ockie Strydom shot five-under-par 67 to share the lead with Riekus Nortje on 14-under on moving day.
He made seven birdies in all on the day but dropped shots on the third and sixth holes and he feels he could have done better in some areas. “Well, it wasn’t easy today,” he said. “I felt I left like probably three or four out there. But going into tomorrow with a nice score – hopefully one back or maybe two, is not too bad. So, I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Having teed off in the afternoon for the second round of this event and with the greens a little bit firmer, Strydom felt the course played a little bit better during the third round. “Yesterday I played in the afternoon as well so I got a feel of what I must expect,” Strydom said, “But the greens were as bumpy as they were yesterday so I think it was actually quite nice.”
Meanwhile, Nortje felt he didn’t play his best on a day where he signed for two-under-par 70 to total 14-under and share the lead with Strydom. “Luckily I am still at the top there,” Nortje said. “It wasn’t the greatest day but the score is still there; it’s still up there and that’s a good thing.
He felt his putter didn’t come to the party on the day and on a few occasions, luck deserted him. “I didn’t putt as great,” he said, “and, I had one or two unlucky breaks as well so that also cost me a shot or two. But, I also got a few lucky breaks so I can’t really complain about that.”
He feels he has a chance at winning come Sunday but he refuses to lose focus. “Tomorrow I just have to keep my head down and stick to the game plan and commit on every single shot. If I do that I have a very good chance,” he said.
Regaining his momentum and playing himself into a share of third with Alex Haindl ahead of the final round was Oliver Bekker who registered a four-under 68 round. He was naturally pleased with coming back into contention at Nkana.
“I played solid golf today,” Bekker said, “and, I had a great finish. That helped a lot. Three birdies in the last three holes. Otherwise I would have been a little disappointed because I felt like I played much better today.”
He will hope to carry that momentum into the final round where, if he plays well and wins, he will win a third title in five events.
Veterans Jean Hugo and Titch Moore occupy fifth spot while JJ Senekal and Rourke van der Spuy share seventh. Rhys West and Combrinck Smit make up the top 10 ahead of the final round in Kitwe.
Scores:
202 - Ockie Strydom 65 70 67, Riekus Nortje 65 67 70
206 - Oliver Bekker 64 74 68, Alex Haindl 70 64 72
207 - Jean Hugo 66 73 68, Titch Moore 70 68 69
209 - JJ Senekal 72 69 68, Rourke van der Spuy 72 66 71
210 - Rhys West 70 71 69, Combrinck Smit 69 70 71
211 - Lyle Rowe 71 74 66, Jake Roos 70 72 69, Ulrich van den Berg 68 73 70, Chris Lloyd 69 70 72
212 - Martin Rohwer 71 74 67, Ryan Cairns 71 74 67, Damian Naicker 71 71 70, Jbe' Kruger 70 71 71, Adilson Da Silva 69 70 73, Colin Nel 68 71 73
213 - Theunis Spangenberg 75 72 66, MJ Viljoen 71 75 67, Lindani Ndwandwe 72 73 68, Coert Groenewald 74 70 69, Luke Jerling 77 66 70, Louis de Jager 73 69 71, Madalitso Muthiya 70 71 72
214 - Andre de Decker 76 71 67, JC Ritchie 72 72 70, Vaughn Groenewald 73 71 70, Andrew Odoh 72 72 70
215 - Steve Surry 72 73 70, Ruan de Smidt 73 71 71, Andrew Curlewis 72 70 73, Teaghan Gauche 71 70 74, Doug McGuigan 72 69 74, Irvin Mazibuko 71 68 76
216 - N.J. Arnoldi 70 76 70, Jason Viljoen 74 72 70, Chris Swanepoel 73 72 71, Daniel van Tonder 72 72 72
217 - Justin Harding 73 75 69, Jared Harvey 72 74 71, Peter Karmis 73 72 72, Merrick Bremner 67 77 73, Jean-Paul Strydom 73 69 75
218 - Kyle Pilgrim 72 75 71, Zack Byrd 74 72 72, Neil Schietekat 73 72 73, Tyrone Ryan 73 70 75, Danie Van Niekerk 73 68 77
219 - Herman Loubser 76 71 72, Andre Nel 72 73 74
220 - Michael Palmer 75 73 72, Damon Stephenson 72 76 72, Jacques Kruyswijk 72 72 76
221 - Gabriel Chibale 71 77 73, Roy Da Costa 73 75 73
224 - Richie O'Donovan 74 74 76
227 - Andrew Georgiou 75 73 79
228 - Dwayne Basson 75 73 8
