Two South Africans remain in the mix, but they will need something of a miracle to topple the Norwegian.
Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan will tee off on Sunday as the hot favourite to win the 2025 Nedbank Golf Challenge, but he can expect a charge from two South Africans eager to get their names on the famous trophy.
Reitan, who has now led the tournament after the first, second and third rounds, will tee off five shots clear of his nearest challenger Sunday after firing another excellent round on Saturday at Sun City.
The world number 59 followed up his 63 and 69 with a 67 in round three, which included five birdies, an excellent eagle at the par-5 ninth, but also double bogey six at the 18th to be on 17-under-par.
Five shots back and in sole second place at 12-under-par is young South African Jaden Schaper, who recorded a 66 on Saturday to go with earlier rounds of 70 and 68.
While he made eight birdies on Saturday he also made two bogeys.
A further two shots back and seven off the leader at 10-under-par are Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Dan Bradbury of England.
While Bradbury will be pleased with his 67, Bezuidenhout will feel he could have done better than his 71, which included five birdies but also four bogeys.
South Africans Garrick Higgo (eight-under-par) and Shaun Norris and Daniel van Tonder (seven-under-par) are well off the pace and unlikely to challenge for the title.
It’s going to take something special to stop Reitan though.
“I’m very disappointed with the finish on the 18th, but I guess a good double in the end. It’s just clear evidence that if you don’t hit it in the right spots, then you can get severely punished,” the Norwegian told the DP World website.
“But overall, good today. I think I got out of some tricky situations … I did that well. I think longevity wise, I think hitting it just that little bit better would be good. But overall, with the score today, I’m happy.
“I think I did a good job. I hit some good shots, but also when I was out of position, hit some good shots there as well to get me out of trouble.
“And my putter was rolling nicely as well. It’s kind of weird because the round just goes into a blur at this point. It’s a long time since we teed off, but yeah, a lot of good stuff today.
“I look forward to waking up in the morning and starting the day off fresh. It’s a cool challenge that I have ahead of me. I’m looking forward to that and hope to deal with it in a decent manner.”
Saturday’s third round was delayed by several hours due to bad weather in the late afternoon, with Reitan one of the players who had to stall his round and complete it almost in the dark.
Stephania Fetzer
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