Hanna leading the chase for Dimension title
Chase Hanna is in contention to claim his first European Challenge Tour title after an eight-under-par round of 64 earned him a share of the 54-hole lead at the Dimension Data Pro-Am.
The American finished eagle-birdie at Fancourt Golf Estate in South Africa to reach 15-under-par and climb to the top of the leaderboard alongside overnight co-leader Jaco Ahlers, who birdied the last hole to post a bogey-free four under par round of 68 and join Hanna at the top.
The duo share a two-stroke advantage over Sweden’s Henric Sturehed and Stanislav Matus, of the Czech Republic, who are tied for third on 13 under.
Heavy overnight rain meant scoring, on average, was not as low on the Outeniqua course as the first two days. However, Hanna bucked the trend to post the low round of the day to join Ahlers in a share for the lead in the final event of the South African Swing, which is co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour.
“I played well,” Hanna said. “I had good control of my ball today. My ball striking was pretty average over the first two days but I’ve been putting pretty well all week, so I put together a nice round.
“I played awesome on the back nine. I’ve stayed patient pretty much all week. I knew a low nine holes was there and it happened to come today, so hopefully one more tomorrow or maybe even two good nine holes.
“There are a lot of tough holes where you just want to make par but then you’ve got about 10 holes where you’ve got green lights and you should have a good look for birdie. I took advantage of those and played the tough ones well.
“It’s exciting. I haven’t been in contention out here so I’m just looking forward to the day. I’ll see how I handle it and hopefully just keep doing the same as the last three rounds.”
Daan Huizing, of the Netherlands, and South Africa’s Wilco Nienaber share fifth place on 12 under, while South African George Coetzee, England’s Daniel Gavins, Swede Anton Karlsson and Denmark’s Niklas Nørgaard Møller all share seventh place on 11 under.
■ Great Britain and Ireland were tied at 2-2 after the opening foursomes of the Walker Cup at Seminole Golf Club in Florida.
All four games were tight affairs, going to the 18th hole before being decided.