Danny Willett produced Saturday’s outstanding round of the day as overnight leader Luke Donald maintained a one-shot advantage going into yesterday’s final round at the Nedbank Challenge.
Ross Fisher was two shots further back in third as the three Englishmen surged clear at the top of the leaderboard after the third round at the Sun City course in Cape Town.
Donald lead on 13-under-par after a steady 69 in a third round in which he failed to find the spark that took him to within one of the course record on Friday.
Photo: Reuters
Willett, whose only European Tour win came in 2012, carded a seven-under-par 65, including eight birdies and an unlucky bogey on the 13th. Yet that was his only error and the 27-year-old gained momentum with an early birdie on the second.
Fisher led after the first round and needed a steady hand as he carded four birdies, but also two dropped shots in his 70.
Some way back in fourth on five-under-par was German Marcel Siem, who carded a 71 for a 211.
“It was a little bit of hard work on the back nine, I didn’t hit the fairway enough which I did well yesterday,” Donald said in a televised interview.
“It’s a dangerous course, every hole there is something lurking out there and you have to be on your game and patient,” he added.
“It was nice to get a birdie at the last, it will make dinner taste a bit better. It’ll also be fun to play the final round with my fellow Englishmen,” Donald said of Willett and Fisher.
Lee Westwood, a two-time winner of the tournament, had a disastrous round, including an eagle, five bogeys and a triple-bogey on the 17th as he finished in the water.
His six-over-par 78 — the worst of the day — left him tied in 24th place with defending champion Thomas Bjorn and Martin Kaymer, the world No. 13 and highest-ranked player in the 30-man field.
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