He might not be in the lead going into the final round, but Doug McGuigan has all the momentum after his third-round course-record equalling nine-under-par 63 on Saturday in the 2017 Zimbabwe Open at Royal Harare Golf Club.

He made 10 birdies and a bogey and he climbed to 11-under-par at the 54-hole mark, just two shots off the lead of Trevor Fisher Jnr, who had a 63 of his own in the second round, but slumped to a one-over 73 in the third.

‘The first 27 holes of the tournament I was three-over-par,’ said McGuigan, ‘and the next 27, I’m 14-under, so things have changed drastically. My puttting’s come right – the hole’s looking big and I’m reading the lines well.’

His only bogey came on the 10th, which served up 21 bogeys and three doubles on the day.

‘If you’re not on the right line of the tee, if you leave it a little bit right, you’re blocked out by the trees and there’s no punching out from these trees, because the rough’s too long under them. You can end up with double quicker than you think,’ he said.

But the rest of his game was working swimmingly. ‘I hit a lot of greens,’ he said, ‘and then the putting… if you’re putting well you can score. I missed a few fairways – I actually didn’t drive the ball well – but when I was in trouble, I chipped out and I got up and down a lot and that keeps the momentum going.’

His putting was certainly the standout feature of his round. He had only 22 putts, and that is always going to lead to a good score at this level.

Fisher, on the other hand, battled right from the start. He made bogey on the first, and followed that with a run of pars until the problematic 10th, where he made a second bogey.

He got one stroke back on 11, but dropped again on 13, before making a 25-footer on the par-three 15th for birdie.

He was headed straight for the range when he came off.

‘I tried to find a feeling today, and I thought I found something,” he said, “and then it was just terrible. I hit my irons really badly, but thank goodness I chipped and putted really well, or I could have shot 80.

‘I’d rather be two shots ahead than two shot behind, and if I can get four or five under tomorrow, it should be enough. But I’ve got to find a golf swing first,’ he added.

Jaco Ahlers carded a four-under-par 68 to move into third place, three shots off Fisher’s pace, while Toby Tree and Andrew Curlewis were one shot further back in fourth.

For McGuigan, the final round is something he is relishing. ‘I’m looking forward to tomorrow,’ he said. ‘The 63 is in the past now, and it’s going to be nice to be with Fish out there in the final group.’

Scores:
203 – Trevor Fisher Jnr 67 63 73
205 – Doug McGuigan 73 69 63
206 – Jaco Ahlers 69 69 68
207 – Toby Tree 72 68 67, Andrew Curlewis 69 70 68
208 – JC Ritchie 74 67 67, Anthony Michael 68 70 70, Oliver Bekker 67 68 73, Jean Hugo 65 69 74
209 – Christiaan Bezuidenhout 71 71 67, Wallie Coetsee 72 69 68, Christiaan Basson 72 67 70
210 – Tyrone Ferreira 68 72 70, Rourke van der Spuy 68 72 70, Breyten Meyer 71 67 72
211 – Jacquin Hess 71 73 67, Chris Swanepoel 74 67 70, Riekus Nortje 75 66 70, Cody Martin 68 72 71, Neil Schietekat 70 69 72, Ryan Cairns 66 73 72, Luke Jerling 67 71 73
212 – Merrick Bremner 71 73 68, Andrew Odoh 75 68 69, Jean-Paul Strydom 70 69 73, Vaughn Groenewald 68 71 73
213 – Jason Froneman 68 76 69, Peter Karmis 70 73 70, Bryce Easton 71 72 70, Martin Rohwer 71 71 71, Jonathan Agren 69 73 71, Ulrich van den Berg 72 69 72, Rhys Enoch 68 68 77
214 – Teaghan Gauche 70 73 71, MJ Viljoen 72 71 71, CJ du Plessis 67 75 72, Lindani Ndwandwe 69 72 73, Ruan Huysamen 74 66 74, Steven Ferreira 71 69 74, Keenan Davidse 67 72 75
215 – Alex Haindl 69 76 70, Trainos Muradzikwa 69 76 70, Callum Mowat 72 73 70, Herman Loubser 72 71 72, Toto Thimba 73 70 72
216 – Mark Williams 73 72 71, Rhys West 74 69 73, Dayne Moore 70 73 73, TC Charamba 70 69 77, Aubrey Beckley 68 70 78
217 – Kyle Pilgrim 73 72 72, Arthur Horne 72 72 73, Francois Coetzee 67 77 73, N.J. Arnoldi 69 73 75, Zander Lombard 72 70 75
218 – Danie van Tonder 68 76 74, Jared Harvey 69 75 74
219 – Gary Thompson 74 71 74, Antonio Costa 72 73 74, Justin Harding 70 74 75, Stephen Ferreira 73 70 76
220 – Jason Viljoen 73 71 76, Musiwalo Nethunzwi 69 75 76
221 – Michael Palmer 72 72 77
222 – Heinrich Bruiners 74 71 77, Michael Hollick 70 72 80
223 – Tyrone Ryan 70 75 78, Coert Groenewald 70 75 78, James Kamte 71 71 81