Du Plessis homes in on victory
Hennie du Plessis will go in search of a first DP World Tour victory in wire-to-wire style when he takes a two-shot lead into the final round of the 2022 Mygolflife Open hosted by Pecanwood.
The South African was part of a four-way tie after a stunning 62 on day one and followed that with a 65 to take a one-shot lead into the weekend.
He could not maintain that blistering pace in round three but a 70 was enough to move him to 19 under and give him the advantage over countryman Richard Sterne and Spaniards Adri Arnaus, Nacho Elvira and Pablo Larrazabal.
Arnaus matched the lowest round of his DP World Tour career with a 64, while Sterne carded a 70, one shot better than Elvira and Larrazabal.
A victory for home favourite Du Plessis – whose commute this week is a “one minute drive in a buggy” – would make him the second South African this season to be a first-time and wire-towire winner after Thriston Lawrence at the Joburg Open.
The 25-year-old finished in the top 10 himself at Randpark Golf Club and is a two-time winner on the Sunshine Tour.
“I obviously expected somewhere close to 25 under that was going to lead tonight so by the turn when I saw nobody was really making a charge I just kept calm and tried to hit as many greens as possible and give myself as many greens and putts as possible,” he said.
“The greens were a little bit firmer and that was about it. I can’t think the course played much different but the greens were definitely a lot firmer.
“It was awesome, I haven’t played in front of a nice home crowd before so I really enjoyed every minute of it.”
Frenchman Julien Brun was at 15 under alongside South Africans Darren Fichardt and Jbe Kruger and English pair Ross Fisher and Jordan Smith.
Top Scot is Ewen Ferguson at 14 under, Connor Syme is at 12 under and Grant Forrest a further shot back, while Richie Ramsay, Scott Jamieson and David Law are at 10-under-par.