Norway’s Baard Skogen and France’s Maxence Giboudot will head into the final round of the SDC Open tied for the lead on 15 under par after a thrilling third round of low scoring at the Zebula Golf Estate & Spa.
Skogen signed for a 64 to top the leaderboard, and Giboudot birdied the last for a 68 to join him.
“I’m over the moon. I made some long putts and couldn’t be more pleased,” said Skogen, who finished fifth in this tournament last year.
The key to his round on Saturday was some incredible putting, especially for his two eagles on the 15th and 18th holes.
“I hit a nice shot into 15 and it stayed just short of the ridge, and I got lucky with the putt. On 18, that putt had some speed but went in the hole so I got lucky with that one,” he said.
His round of eight under was one better than he’d told his friend would be needed for him to get back into this tournament.
“I told my friend yesterday that if I shoot seven under I’d get back in the tournament. I played poorly on moving day here last year so I did better than that today. I felt like I did good work over the winter so hopefully I’m seeing the fruits of my labour.”
Giboudot remains in contention to become the second French winner of this title after Clement Sordet in 2022.
The leaders are one stroke clear of South Africa’s MJ Viljoen, who posted a 66, and Germany’s Jannik de Bruyn, who signed for a 67.
It’s a tight leaderboard going into Sunday’s final round, and it’s exactly what Skogen is looking forward to.
“Who wouldn’t be excited? We get to play for a win. That’s what we work for. Everybody wants to win. I haven’t won as a pro and didn’t win much in college. It’s been a long time since I’ve won something.”
SCORES
201 – Baard Skogen 72 65 64
201 – Maxence Giboudot 69 64 68
202 – MJ Viljoen 66 70 66
202 – Jannik de Bruyn 70 65 67
205 – Marc Warren 71 69 65
205 – Stuart Krog 69 70 66, Alex Goff 70 68 67, Deon Germishuys 70 68 67, Kyle Barker 69 68 68, Tobias Eden 68 69 68, Martin Vorster 65 69 71
206 – Max Kennedy 69 72 65
206 – Jean Hugo 68 70 68, Graham van der Merwe 68 69 69, Herman Loubser 68 68 70, Pieter Moolman 72 64 70, Jaco Ahlers 67 68 71, Rhys Enoch 69 65 72
207 – Justin Walters 68 73 66
207 – Nikhil Rama 72 68 67, Dan Erickson 70 70 67, Liam Nolan 72 67 68, Julien Quesne 69 69 69, Callum Farr 67 71 69, Luke Brown 67 70 70, Pablo Ereno 69 67 71
208 – Wilco Nienaber 73 67 68
208 – Jaco Prinsloo 66 73 69, Lucas Vacarisas 69 69 70, Charles Huntzinger 69 68 71, Robin Williams 70 67 71, Hurly Long 72 64 72, Joel Moscatel 69 65 74
209 – Matthis Besard 71 70 68
209 – Tyran Snyders 68 72 69, Kieron van Wyk 71 69 69, Ronan Kleu 69 70 70, Trevor Fisher Jnr 68 71 70, Julien Brun 70 68 71, Tristen Strydom 71 67 71, Jordan Burnand 68 69 72
210 – Jason Roets 73 68 69
210 – Austin Bautista 71 69 70, Martin Rohwer 70 70 70, Haydn Porteous 69 70 71, Clement Sordet 69 70 71, Adam Wallin 69 69 72, Julien Sale 67 70 73
211 – Palmer Jackson 70 71 70
211 – Sam Hutsby 74 66 71, Jack Hawksby 68 70 73
212 – Hennie Otto 72 69 71
212 – Ryan Van Velzen 68 72 72, Lorenzo Scalise 70 70 72, Yurav Premlall 68 72 72, Toto Thimba Jnr 71 68 73, Robert Foley 70 69 73
213 – Nick Carlson 72 69 72
213 – Gary Hurley 72 69 72, Rupert Kaminski 73 67 73, Ruan Korb 68 71 74
214 – Jonathan Goth-Rasmussen 72 69 73
214 – Robin Sciot-Siegrist 73 68 73, Kyle De Beer 69 71 74, Gerhard Pepler 69 71 74
215 – Altin van der Merwe 72 69 74
215 – Ryan van der Klis 70 69 76
217 – Warwick Purchase 70 71 76
217 – Bjorn Akesson 70 71 76
219 – Thomas Spreadborough 72 69 78
220 – Luis Carrera 70 71 79
Issued by Michael Vlismas Media
