Wire-to-wire leader Kristoffer Reitan had built himself a mountainous lead with a mound of birdies on the back nine before finishing with a double bogey at the last in the penultimate round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City yesterday, leaving him with a five-shot advantage.
Reitan led by three after shooting a marvellous 63 on the opening day, then led by one after the second round as the field fought back.
And the final round of Africa’s Major certainly looked set to be a thrilling battle between the Norwegian and several South Africans when Reitan struggled to get going on the front nine yesterday.
One of the breakout golfers of 2025, Reitan has climbed from No 617 in the world rankings before the Challenge Tour Grand Final he won, to No 59 heading into his Nedbank Golf Challenge debut.
But he had to show great patience in the early stages of the third round, as a birdie on the par-five second hole was his only gain, while the likes of Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Dan Bradbury, Andy Sullivan, Jayden Schaper, Thriston Lawrence and Shaun Norris were all charging.
Spectacular run
But a brilliant eagle on the showpiece par-five ninth hole, sinking a 15-foot putt for a three, was the spark for a spectacular run around the turn.
While Bezuidenhout had the home crowd cheering in the second round, yesterday was Jayden Schaper’s time to shine
Reitan followed the eagle with four birdies in the next five holes, as he all but buried the chasing pack with his 67 for 17-under-par overall.
Bezuidenhout was his closest challenger, playing some wonderful golf from the tee. His iron play was solid, but he struggled to get close to the flags, and though he teased the cup with some great putts, he was generally going for birdie a long way from the hole.
Eventually, the South African faltered, and although he birdied the ninth and 10th holes, he bogeyed 11 and 12 to drop off Reitan’s blistering pace.
The multiple DP World Tour winner finished with a 71 and a tie for third place at 10-under.
Frenchman Adrien Saddier was just one behind Reitan at the start of the day, but he shot a 76 to slip to seven-under as he had five bogeys and a double bogey at the par-four sixth in a nightmare round.
Countryman Julien Guerrier, who was tied with Bezuidenhout three off the lead overnight, also went backwards with a 74 to finish on seven-under.
Cheering home crowd
While Bezuidenhout had the home crowd cheering in the second round, yesterday was Jayden Schaper’s time to shine.
The 24-year-old shot a superb 66, coming home in 32 to finish in second place on 12-under.
He started in devastating fashion with three straight birdies, but back-to-back bogeys on the fourth and fifth holes meant he had to do some rebuilding.
Schaper birdied the sixth and the 10th, and had just birdied the 14th and 16th holes when a lightning delay interrupted his charge on 17. Undeterred by the two-hour break, he birdied the penultimate hole when play resumed and parred the last.
Bradbury, the Englishman who won the 2023 Joburg Open while ranked 1,397th in the world, was probably in a luxury courtesy car back to the Palace hotel when the lightning delay happened, having much earlier fired a five-under-par 67 that lifted him to 10-under-par, and in third with Bezuidenhout.
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