Shaun Norris still in the lead Shaun Norris navigated his way superbly through some tricky third-round pin positions at Houghton Golf Club and signed for a 67 on Saturday to lead on 14 under par overall. Photo: Sunshine Tour
Image: Sunshine Tour
Shaun Norris will take a four-stroke lead into Sunday’s final round of the Joburg Open as he chases a third DP World Tour title and his second in just under three months.
Norris navigated his way superbly through some tricky third-round pin positions at Houghton Golf Club and signed for a 67 on Saturday to lead on 14 under par overall.
His nearest challengers are fellow South African Jacques Kruyswijk and Frenchman Adrien Saddier on 10 under par. Kruyswijk, who finished fourth in the 2023 Joburg Open and who won his maiden DP World Tour title in February’s Magical Kenya Open, signed for a third round of 68. Saddier posted a third round of 70.
Norris was still suffering from the ear infection that has plagued him this week, but it’s showing no signs of affecting his golf. He went into the third round just one shot clear of the field and that gap remained at the turn. But then Norris made three key birdies in five holes from the 10th to extend his lead.
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“The ear is still blocked and I can’t hear out of it. It was a little bit sore but the doctor has given me some good pain pills. It hasn’t been bothering me on the golf course. But when my brother (his caddie) is on my left-hand side I can’t hear a thing he says to me,” he said.
“But I hit the ball nicely and gave myself some good chances. Overall I can’t complain about the round. There were some bad shots here and there, but that’s golf. It’s more about how you handle the rest of the round.”
With the final round to come, Norris has no intention of playing it safe on Sunday.
“It’s nice to lead by four, but I want to win by 10 shots. So I’ll just keep going and change nothing.”
Behind him, Kruyswijk is relishing the final round challenge.
“I love chasing a leader. It’s why I play this game. I’m looking forward to a nice battle in the final round. Shaun’s playing some really good golf and it will take a lot to beat him,” said Kruyswijk, whose third round included a wedge holed out for eagle on the par-five 10th hole.
And Saddier is hoping for a few putts to drop early on as he also chases this title.
“If that happens, I can put a bit of pressure on the leader and I can have a good day,” he said.
Scores
196 - Shaun Norris 66 63 67
200 - Jacques Kruyswijk 65 67 68, Adrien Saddier 65 65 70
201 - Nicolai Von Dellingshausen 64 68 69
202 - Robin Williams 67 71 64, Jacob Olesen 65 72 65, Kieran Vincent 66 69 67, Daniel van Tonder 67 68 67, Jaco Ahlers 66 68 68, Daniel Brown 68 65 69, Ugo Coussaud 65 68 69
203 - Marcel Siem 70 66 67, Adrian Otaegui 69 67 67, Connor Syme 66 65 72
204 - Gerhard Pepler 69 67 68, Dylan Frittelli 65 70 69, Calum Hill 69 66 69, Callum Tarren 64 68 72
205 - Rhys Enoch 69 68 68, Brandon Robinson Thompson 68 68 69, Malcolm Mitchell 64 70 71, Wenyi Ding 63 69 73, Richard Mansell 65 67 73, Shubhankar Sharma 66 65 74
206 - Sam Bairstow 69 70 67, Pieter Moolman 69 70 67, Jeong Weon Ko 69 68 69, Thomas Aiken 70 66 70, Jordan Gumberg 71 64 71, Niklas Lemke 71 64 71, Todd Clements 68 67 71, Jayden Schaper 64 70 72, Joost Luiten 66 66 74
Michael Vlismas Media
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