Haydn Porteous moved himself into contention with a Saturday 67, while Louis Oosthuizen enjoyed another steady day at the Nedbank Golf Challenge, writes WADE PRETORIUS.
Porteous got off to a fast start on Saturday with an eagle 3 at the second hole and moved to four under par for his round with birdies at the sixth and seventh holes.
Starting the day at two over par following two 73s, the Czech Masters champion dropped his first shot of the day when he tapped in for five on the eighth. Good golf at the turn of the Gary Player Country Club is vital to moving up the leaderboard, and Porteous cashed in with a birdie at the 9th and another at the 11th to continue his steady climb up the leaderboard.
A birdie at the challenging 17th hole cancelled out his second drop of the day at the 15th to help him jump 25 places into a share of fifth with a host of other players including Francesco Molinari, who currently holds the round of the day after a sublime 67.
One shot further back at -2 for the championship is Louis Oosthuizen. Unfortunately for the likeable South African star, he is probably too far back to make a run at a win in the valuable Rolex Series event.
His day got off to a perfect start with a birdie, but he gave that straight back at the second, a hole that ranked as the easiest on the course on Saturday.
Oosthuizen then replicated that sequence with a birdie at the third and another drop at the fourth to remain level. One-under became two when he birdied 8 and 9 to get himself in the frame. A third birdie on the bounce at the 10th had the home crowd roaring in approval with the hopes growing of a local triumph at Sun City.
Those hopes grew a little when he found the back of the 14th green for two and calmly got up and down for another red number on his card. That’s where it all changed as he gave one back at the 15th, birdied the par 3 16th, before a double at the 17th after being wet off the tee stunted his progress.
A solid putt at the last helped him save par as he signed for a 70; his best score of the 2017 event, but he finds himself six back with the leaders still having a few holes to play.
