JOHANNESBURG – South African duo Richard Sterne and Trevor Fisher Jr. each shot a 4-under 68 to move five shots ahead of the field at the Joburg Open on Saturday.
Both birdied the final hole for a 19-under total of 196 at the Royal Johannesburg & Kensington GC.
Felipe Aguilar (68), Jaco van Zyl (67) and George Coetzee (70) and two-time tournament winner Charl Schwartzel (68) trail at 14 under.
Sterne and Fisher exchanged the lead on several occasions during the round, setting up an intriguing final day.
''A bit of nerves set in there,'' Fisher said. ''You try not to think about the lead, but it's there in front of you. I was a bit jumpy with the swing and wasn't waiting at the top, so I hit a few bad shots there. But I came back nicely with a few birdies.''
Sterne had birdies at Nos. 6 and 7 before Fisher went to the turn with three straight birdies.
On the back nine, Fisher recorded consecutive bogeys and Sterne birdied the 11th before Fisher drew even again. Both players dropped shots at No. 15 before finishing with birdies on the par-5 18th.
Schwartzel moved up the leaderboard with a bogey-free round that included four birdies.
Latest News
- Bradley leads by 1 | At a glance | Scores
- Venturi dies at 82 | Twitter reaction | Photos
- Arnie, Jack recall Venturi | Nelson connection
- Singh among Byron Nelson MDF casualties
- Chella Choi leads; Nordqvist fires 61 | Scores
- G-Mac bests Colsaerts in Volvo quarters | Results
- You Oughta Know: HP Byron Nelson Championship
- Colsaerts' drive results in bathroom drop | Video
- Only one Irish team to compete at World Cup
- Howell hoping for U.S. Open berth via OWGR
- USGA to announce anchoring news Tuesday
- Open qualifying: Men's local | Women's sectional
- Instruction: Improve your thought process
