DP World Tour: Joburg Open
Dan Bradbury remains on course for a stunning wire-to-wire victory at the Joburg Open after firing a third-round 67 to sit one shot clear heading into the final round.
The 23-year-old continued to make the most of a sponsor’s invite as he carded six birdies and two bogeys on Saturday to move to 17 under par and hold off a charging Sami Välimäki.
Bradbury began the third round with a one-shot advantage and, although he was briefly overtaken in the early stages, led the way for most of the day before playing partner Välimäki joined him at the summit after 13 holes.
The Englishman's bogey at the 16th handed Välimäki the outright lead with two holes remaining but the pendulum swung back Bradbury's way at the last as the Finn surrendered a double bogey after getting into significant tree trouble.
Välimäki was alone in second place on 16 under after carding an eagle, six birdies, one bogey and a double bogey in his third round.
Home favourite Daniel van Tonder sat two shots further back in third, two ahead of fellow South Africans Casey Jarvis and Christiaan Bezuidenhout.
Bradbury, playing in just his third DP World Tour event this week, led by one shot after 36 holes, with the chasing pack unable to catch him when the weather-affected second round resumed on Saturday morning.
Bradbury, who could go from having no status on any tour to securing a DP World Tour card and a spot at The Open Championship with a win on Sunday, said: "I'm really, really happy with my situation. It's nice when you're hitting good golf shots and enjoying it. Yeah, everything's just good at the minute.
"I just knew that if I just played my own game and kept playing solid golf, I'd be somewhere near where I need to be at the end of the day. And that's how it's worked out.
"I've never really been (in this position) before but I've won tournaments - college golf kind of set me up for that, so that's quite nice.
"I don't feel out of place, which is the biggest thing. It's just keeping a positive mindset and believing you should be here and you deserve it."
europeantour.com
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