JJ Senekal held on to his place at the top of the SDC Open leaderboard as he weathered a cold putter, intermittent rain and a few surges from his fellow professionals to place him two shots clear of the field going into Sunday’s final round at Zebula Golf Estate and Spa.
Senekal signed for a third round of 69 to lead on 18 under par. His nearest challenger is Casey Jarvis on 16 under following his round of 66. Jaco Prinsloo and Martin Vorster are both three shots off the lead after their rounds of 66 and 68 respectively.
At 14:00, play was stopped for a minute’s silence in remembrance of former DP World Tour Chief Referee, John Paramo, who passed away last Friday at the age of 67.
Senekal has led from day one of this tournament and been remarkably composed despite the frustration of not always having his best putting game with him.
“It wasn’t the best round of golf I’ve ever played. From tee to green it was pretty good, but 32 putts was frustrating. I hit good putts here and there but the reading wasn’t very good. I gave myself a lot of opportunities but the putter just wasn’t working,” he said after a round of four birdies and one bogey.
“I was expecting people to charge and they did. Casey had a good round. But I managed to keep myself in it and I’ve got a shot tomorrow.”
Jarvis produced another strong charge to be in contention once again this season. After his eagle on the 15th he didn’t get the finish he wanted as he bogeyed two of his final three holes when the rain suddenly came down again.
“I played really solid the whole day and I rolled in a lot of putts. The way I’m striking the ball I feel really in control of my game at the moment. I’ve been in this position before so hopefully I’ve learnt from the past. I’ve just got to stay patient. In the past I’ve been a little rushed, but I’ve just got to stay patient out there,” he said as he looks forward to a possible maiden victory on the Sunshine Tour.
Patience will certainly be the theme for the final group, with the more experienced Senekal taking the same approach.
“You just have to stay in the moment. If you’re not nervous you’re not ready. There is obviously pressure but you have to keep it under control and not get ahead of yourself. I’m very excited to be in the final group again and I have a shot at the title. That’s always exciting.” – Michael Vlismas
Scores:
198 – JJ Senekal 62 67 69
200 – Casey Jarvis 68 66 66
201 – Jaco Prinsloo 68 67 66, Martin Vorster 64 69 68
202 – Manuel Elvira 69 68 65, Pieter Moolman 70 67 65
203 – Marco Penge 68 69 66, Adam Blomme 69 68 66, Clement Berardo 68 68 67, Lorenzo Scalise 67 69 67, Victor Pastor 65 69 69
204 – Ugo Coussaud 68 68 68, Bradley Bawden 69 66 69, Estiaan Conradie 67 67 70
205 – Jacques Kruyswijk 69 69 67, Jamie Rutherford 68 69 68, Alfie Plant 67 67 71
206 – Christopher Mivis 70 69 67, Jacques P de Villiers 71 67 68, Louis Albertse 71 67 68, Francesco Laporta 71 66 69, Herman Loubser 65 70 71, Combrinck Smit 69 65 72
207 – Velten Meyer 70 70 67, Alvaro Quiros 67 73 67, Henric Sturehed 70 70 67, Steven Brown 71 68 68, Nicolai Kristensen 70 69 68, Danie Van Niekerk 67 71 69, Hennie O’Kennedy 69 69 69, Stuart Manley 67 71 69, Ashley Chesters 68 69 70, Malcolm Mitchell 72 65 70, Tom Murray 68 67 72
208 – Gregorio De Leo 70 70 68, Chris Paisley 68 72 68, Brandon Stone 71 68 69, Benjamin Rusch 72 67 69, Niklas Regner 70 68 70, Ruan Korb 71 67 70, Pierre Pineau 68 69 71, Mikael Lundberg 68 69 71, Craig Howie 69 67 72
209 – Liam Johnston 72 68 69, Joel Sjoholm 69 70 70, Javier Sainz 70 69 70, Luca Filippi 71 68 70, Matteo Manassero 68 70 71, Mathieu Decottignies-Lafon 68 69 72, Keagan Thomas 70 67 72, Victor Garcia Broto 65 70 74
210 – Anton Karlsson 72 68 70, Lucas Vacarisas 70 69 71, Felix Mory 72 67 71, Jonathan Thomson 69 70 71, Christopher Feldborg Nielsen 69 70 71, Borja Virto 70 68 72, Tristen Strydom 71 67 72, Kyle McClatchie 72 66 72, Oliver Lindell 70 67 73
211 – CJ du Plessis 74 66 71, Benjamin Follett-Smith 70 70 71, OJ Farrell 70 69 72, Luke Brown 71 66 74
212 – Jeppe Kristian Andersen 70 69 73
213 – James Allan 69 71 73, Ryan Van Velzen 73 67 73
214 – Alex Haindl 70 70 74
Missed the cut:-
141 – Michael Palmer 67 74, Jack Singh Brar 67 74, Jacques Blaauw 74 67, Daniel O’Loughlin 67 74, Philip Eriksson 71 70, Elias Bertheussen 70 71, Hennie Otto 67 74, Oscar Lengden 70 71, Trevor Fisher Jnr 69 72, Rupert Kaminski 72 69
142 – Frederik Birkelund 69 73, Heinrich Bruiners 69 73, Derek Ackerman 73 69, Rhys Enoch 68 74, James Hart du Preez 72 70, Yan Wei Liu 67 75, Jannik de Bruyn 73 69, Thabang Simon 69 73, Samuel Simpson 71 71, Divan van den Heever 71 71, Lyle Rowe 75 67, Oliver Farr 71 71, Andrea Pavan 71 71, Luke Jerling 70 72, Sean Bradley 72 70, Sam Bairstow 70 72
143 – Sebastian Friedrichsen 73 70, Michael Stewart 73 70, Gary Boyd 72 71, Toby Tree 69 74, Tom Vaillant 71 72, Fredrik From 69 74, Gerard du Plooy 69 74, Musiwalo Nethunzwi 74 69, Chris Cannon 74 69, Pavan Sagoo 74 69, Benjamin Poke 70 73, Steven Tiley 71 72, Lars van Meijel 71 72, Joe Long 69 74, Conor Purcell 71 72, Stephen Ferreira 75 68
144 – Erhard Lambrechts 71 73, Dylan Naidoo 68 76, Robin Petersson 71 73, Doug McGuigan 73 71, Toto Thimba Jnr 72 72, Dan Erickson 74 70, Nikhil Rama 71 73, Keenan Davidse 73 71, Wynand Dingle 74 70, Jared Harvey 70 74, Matthew Spacey 73 71
145 – David Boote 73 72, David Drysdale 71 74, Emilio Cuartero Blanco 73 72, Jaco Van Zyl 73 72, Madalitso Muthiya 73 72, Richard Joubert 72 73, Koen Kouwenaar 68 77, Marc Hammer 74 71, Dylan Mostert 72 73, Victor Riu 72 73, Wade Jacobs 72 73, James Kamte 71 74
146 – Stefan Wears-Taylor 76 70, Eduard Rousaud 72 74, Martin Rohwer 74 72, Ruaidhri McGee 74 72, Ruan Conradie 69 77, Chris Swanepoel 73 73, Shaahid Mahmed 74 72
147 – Ivan Cantero Gutierrez 73 74, Clancy Waugh 71 76
148 – Joel Girrbach 75 73, Kyle Barker 74 74, Anthony Michael 73 75, Merrick Bremner 72 76, Andre De Decker 77 71
149 – Jastice Mashego 76 73
150 – Jean Hugo 76 74, Dean O’Riley 71 79, Lucas Bjerregaard 74 76
153 – Keelan Africa 76 77, Joachim B. Hansen 73 80
159 – Kristoffer Reitan 79 80
160 – Callan Barrow 84 76
162 – Franklin Manchest 79 83
