Johannesburg – Trevor Fisher Jnr took advantage of a quiet day by George Coetzee to tuck in one shot off the pace in the third round of the Investec Cup at the Lost City course.
Fisher carded a five-under-par 67 to move to 10-under-par for the tournament, one behind Coetzee who had two bogeys in his two-under-par 70. “The third round is moving day,” said Fisher.
“I needed to shoot a five- or six-under. I was happy with my performance. I left one or two out there, but the greens were a little slow and I left a few short. You don’t quite trust your putting stroke on surfaces that are a little bit slow.”
Fisher Jnr made five birdies up to the 16th, and then dropped his only shot of the day on the 17th. He made up for that with a birdie on the 18th.
Coetzee was cruising along, with two birdies in his first three holes, and a four-stroke edge over his nearest opposition. But bogeys on eight and 10 saw him drop back into the clutches of his pursuers.
It stayed quiet until Coetzee reached the 16th, and he took the riskier option of driver off the tee.
“I don’t feel comfortable with three-wood on the tee,” said Coetzee.
“I took driver there, and hit my approach to a foot to set up the birdie.”
That took him into a share of the lead with Fisher, and he made his fourth birdie of the day on the 18th to draw one clear going into the final round.
Defending champion Jaco van Zyl rediscovered his putting stroke with a new putter on his way to a seven-under-par 65 which lifted him to eight-under for the tournament.
Jacques Blaauw seemed to be sailing under the radar until his eagle three on the 18th for a 67 saw him climb to nine-under for the tournament in a share of third with Keith Horne, who carded a three-under-par 69. – Sapa