Baard Skogen recorded two eagles in his closing four holes to move into a share of the lead alongside Maxence Giboudot heading into the final round of the SDC Open at Zebula Golf Estate & Spa.
Skogen tied the low round-of-the-week with an eight under par 64 on moving day to join overnight leader, Giboudot, at the top on 15 under par for the week, one clear of German Jannik de Bruyn and South African MJ Viljoen who share third.
Norwegian Skogen, who started the week with a level par round of 72, has now gone 46 holes without making a bogey.
The 24-year-old finished 33rd on the Road to Mallorca Rankings last term, in his first full year on the HotelPlanner Tour, and is excited to be in position to challenge for a breakthrough victory after a strong finish to day three.
“I’m over the moon,” he said. “It was just incredible. I got lucky down the stretch and couldn’t be more pleased.
“I hit a nice shot into 15, but it stayed just short of the ridge. The guy I played with made a very similar putt just before me, so I got lucky to make it for eagle, and then on 18, that eagle putt had some speed on it when it went it the hole, so I got lucky with that.
“It’s the first tournament of the year, but I felt like I’d done some good work over the winter and now we hopefully see the fruits of the labour.
“Who wouldn’t be excited to try to play for a win? That’s what we work for, so hopefully we can do well.
“Obviously everyone wants to win. I haven’t won as a pro and I didn’t win much in college, so it’s been a long time since I’ve won something. We’ll see tomorrow if I can do it.”
Giboudot, who held the overnight lead, signed for a four under par 68, and got off to the perfect start on day three with three birdies in a row from the second hole.
The 22-year-old dropped two shots in a three-hole stretch either side of the turn but responded by making birdies on the 13th and 15th, before a final gain on 18 saw him return to the top alongside Skogen.
The Frenchman, like Skogen, will go in search of a first HotelPlanner Tour title tomorrow, and hopes the hard work he has done in the off season pays off when play gets under way tomorrow.
“There was a bit of pressure at the beginning, but some good putts came early which made me feel better,” he said. “I just played as I can.
“The course was tough, the pin positions were tough, but I’m happy with a 68.
“It was hard at the turn with some bogeys which saw me go back a bit. I knew I was playing well so I just had to wait for the birdies to come, and they did.
“A win tomorrow would mean that it’s a great start to the year. It would mean a lot. There’s a lot of work behind this, so I’ve been waiting for this moment to come.”
Seven players share fifth place on 11 under par, including Deon Germishuys, Kyle Barker and Martin Vorster from South Africa, Scotland’s Marc Warren, Zimbabwe’s Stuart Krog, American Alex Goff and Swede Tobias Edén.
The final round of the SDC Open gets under way tomorrow at 6:22am local time, with Skogen and Giboudot teeing off in the final group at 11:55am.
