Wilco Nienaber will take a commanding six-stroke lead into Sunday’s final round of the NTT DATA Pro-Am as he seeks to become only the fourth golfer in the history of this tournament to win the title twice.
With a third round of 66 on Fancourt’s Montagu course on Saturday, Nienaber climbed to 25-under par overall and remained in control of a tournament that he has led from day one following an incredible opening round of 60.
His nearest challenger is Jacques Blaauw on 19-under after he signed for a 69 on Saturday.
Nienaber won this Sunshine Tour and HotelPlanner Tour co-sanctioned title in 2021 and a victory on Sunday would see him join Nick Price, Darren Fichardt and Oliver Bekker as the only players to have won it twice in its 30-year history.
“I’m treating Sunday like just another golf day. I did think about my victory here in 2021 and just tried to get into that same headspace. This is a different position to be in because in 2021 I hadn’t thought of winning and then it just happened,” he said.
Nienaber started his third round with a bogey on the first but it was his first bogey all week and he was able to quickly move past it as he made seven birdies thereafter, including three consecutive birdies to finish.
“I know I can make bogeys but I also know I can make a lot of birdies. That shot on the first was average and then I got punished by being plugged in the bunker, so bogey was actually a good score there. At one point I did wonder if there were going to be many birdies out there today but I just put that out of my mind and did my own thing. I’m really rolling the putter nicely,” he said.
Nienaber has done exceptionally well to keep himself in the present despite playing such dominant golf this week and it’s something he hopes to continue doing on Sunday.
“There are obviously a lot of thoughts going through your mind during a round and there’s a lot of time between shots. It sounds like a cliché but you really just need to focus on every single shot. If I can do that, I’ll be fine.”
Scores
192 - Wilco Nienaber 60 66 66
198 - Jacques Blaauw 63 66 69
200 - Kyle Barker 65 67 68
202 - Sam Jones 68 65 69, Per Langfors 70 64 68
203 - Jean-Paul Strydom 70 68 65
204 - Daniel Young 69 68 67, Jamie Rutherford 72 62 70
205 - Filippo Celli 68 70 67, Ryan Lumsden 68 69 68, Jovan Rebula 66 67 72, Eddie Pepperell 63 72 70, Gregorio De Leo 67 69 69
206 - Malcolm Mitchell 66 69 71, Max Kennedy 67 69 70, Robin Petersson 73 68 65, Santiago Tarrio 68 71 67, Luke Brown 67 73 66, Hennie O'Kennedy 68 70 68, Gerhard Pepler 70 68 68, Bryce Easton 69 69 68, JC Ritchie 66 70 70, Herman Loubser 69 70 67
207 - George Bloor 72 69 66, Christoffer Bring 65 70 72, Neil Schietekat 71 67 69, Felix Mory 69 65 73, Maximilian Steinlechner 69 70 68, Martin Rohwer 71 69 67, Jacques Kruyswijk 71 68 68
208 - Jonathan Caldwell 71 69 68, Pieter Moolman 71 68 69, Robin Sciot-Siegrist 70 70 68, Stefano Mazzoli 66 69 73, Matthis Besard 70 69 69, Yurav Premlall 72 67 69, MJ Viljoen 70 66 72, Martin Vorster 67 71 70, Daniel van Tonder 68 68 72
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