DP World Tour : Nedbank Golf Challenge Leaderboard Tee Times
Kristoffer Reitan will take a commanding five-shot lead into the final round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge in honour of Gary Player after shooting a stunning 67 in the weather-affected third round in Sun City.
Reitan, who secured his maiden DP World Tour title at the Soudal Open in May this year, produced a brilliant burst of scoring around the turn on Saturday to build an eight-shot lead before play was suspended for just over two hours in the late afternoon due to thunder and lightning in the area.
When the action resumed at 17.45 local time, the Norwegian parred the 16th and 17th but closed his round with a double bogey after getting into trouble at the 18th.
Despite the disappointing finish, he sits at -17 with 18 holes remaining and in pole position to claim a second victory of the calendar year and his first of the 2026 season.
Reitan began the day with a one-shot lead before following up a fine birdie at the second with an eagle on the ninth to sit four clear at the turn.
The 27-year-old kept his foot on the gas as he started the back nine, reeling off four birdies in five holes from the tenth to reach -19 before the hooter sounded shortly after his group had completed the 15th hole with the Dane 8 shots ahead.
And he made a good up-and-down immediately after the resumption to keep his card clean but found the penalty area with his second shot at the 18th and dropped two shots there to give the field a chance, come Sunday afternoon.
Home favourite Jayden Schaper was Reitan's nearest challenger on -12 after making eight birdies and two bogeys in his 66.
South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout and England's Dan Bradbury were two shots further back in a tie for third at -10.
He said: "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.
"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."
EDIT>>>> Canada's Nick Taylor can chalk this week up to experience after accepting the invitation to fly to Sun City. He is T23 70 72 71 -3, a double bogey, bogey at 14 and 16 when he was in contention at -5 on Friday, scuttled his chances.
europeantour.com
Bryan Angus (edit)
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