Van der Walt shares lead with Oosthuizen after the third round of Africa Open
Journeyman Tjaart Van der Walt carded an eight-under par 65 in the third round of the Africa Open to surge up the leaderboard and share the lead with his compatriot, Louis Oosthuizen.
Oosthuizen, the overnight leader, shot a six-under par 67 to finish on 21-under par 219 overall score. Both Oosthuizen and Van der Walt scored a single bogey each, on the third day.
Van der Walt has played on all the high profile tours, such as the PGA Tour, European Tour and the Asian Tour, but has not been able to record a win so far.
While entering the final round of the tournament, he looks quite confident to make history by outclassing his fellow countrymen and winning a professional event for the first time in his career.
"I have been close (to winning) many times but every time there seems to be a top-ranked player with a stop sign in front of me. But I can compete on the last day. Who knows what can happen if I keep knocking on the door," Van der Walt said while talking
to reporters.
He, along with Oosthuizen and Retief Goosen, seemed to be in a battle the whole day, changing their places on the top three positions.
However, Goosen failed to make a par on his final hole, whereas both Van der Walt and Oosthuizen birdied to gain an edge over him on the leaderboard.
Goosen finished the round with seven-under 66 and had a single-shot deficit against the leaders.
In the afternoon, the wind started to blow at the East London Golf Club and Oosthuizen said that he will need a very low score in order to win the event.
“If it's the same weather then I expect 27, 28-under to win,” he told reporters.
“Everyone will know that there are a lot of birdies out there. If there is no wind and you are four behind it's going to be really tough to catch the leaders because they are also going to be scoring”.
South African Richard Sterne shot the best round on the third day, with nine-under par 64 and moved up the leaderboard to take the fifth place.
Oosthuizen is playing well in the tournament and is likely to defend his title as an Africa Open champion.
However, it is yet to be seen whose side will luck ride on, as Van der Walt and Louis Oosthuizen remain in contention for a lead.
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