Golf:Two South Africans lead the way on home turf in the Africa Open in East London after Darren Fichardt fired a seven-under-par 65 to join Jaco Van Zyl at the top of the standings on 15 under, six ahead of Ireland's David Higgins who shot a 69.
Fichardt set up a great day by firing four birdies and an eagle on the first eight holes, and his day might have been even better but for two bogeys, the second on the 17th to drop him back into a tie with Van Zyl.
Van Zyl made a 68, unable to match the 66 and 67 he had in the opening two rounds.
Both men are vying to become the fourth successive South African to win this event. They were among several players starting out early on the course who were able to make the most of decent conditions before the wind picked up and made it much more difficult for the leaders.
"The wind certainly picked up," Fichardt told the European Tour website. "It didn't feel like it in the fairways which are in little valleys, but it built up and made a difference."
Fichardt, who has a European title to his name after winning at St Omer, has the experience advantage over his main rivals at the top of the leaderboard.
"I'll play one hole at a time, one shot at a time," he added. "I know Jaco is going for his first win, but he's going to have to get through me first."
Although Van Zyl could not match his earlier rounds, he was happy with a 68 in the conditions.
"I just wanted to make par and get out of there," he said. "In the end you take what you can. It would have been nice being 25 under par, but I'll take 15 and see what tomorrow brings."
Fichardt and Van Zyl both overhauled overnight leader Adilson Da Silva, who could only manage a one over par 73, a full 11 shots more than his outstanding first round effort which propelled him to the top of the leaderboard.
Although he eagled the third, a triple bogey on the par four eighth ruined his round and he was unable to recover.
Jorge Campillo and Emiliano Grillo were the big movers as Spaniard Campillo had eight birdies and an eagle in a round of 63 which sent him up to joint sixth, while the Argentinian Grillo had eight birdies in a 64 which kept him one shot ahead of Campillo in fifth.
Frenchman Gregory Bourdy lies fourth after a 67 moved him to 12 under par.
Collated third round scores and totals (Gbr & Irl unless stated, Irish in bold, par 73):
201Jaco Van Zyl (Rsa) 66 67 68, Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 69 67 65
203Adilson Da Silva (Bra) 62 68 73
204Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 70 67 67
205Emiliano Grillo (Arg) 70 71 64
206Tjaart Van Der Walt (Rsa) 70 68 68, Mark Tullo (Chi) 69 69 68, Jorge Campillo (Spa) 73 70 63
207Desvonde Botes (Rsa) 74 67 66, John Parry 68 66 73, Ricardo Santos (Por) 71 66 70, David Higgins 70 68 69, Morten Orum Madsen (Den) 71 69 67
208Oliver Bekker (Rsa) 69 67 72, Garth Mulroy (Rsa) 72 67 69, Lorenzo Gagli (Ita) 73 69 66
209Brett Rumford (Aus) 71 70 68, Andy Sullivan 70 70 69, James Kingston (Rsa) 69 71 69, Phillip Price 69 74 66, Mikko Korhonen (Fin) 70 73 66
210Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 74 70 66, Maximilian Kieffer (Ger) 71 72 67, Seve Benson 71 71 68, Lee Slattery 74 68 68, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 72 71 67, Tommy Fleetwood 69 72 69, Keith Horne (Rsa) 76 68 66, Trevor Fisher Jnr (Rsa) 72 69 69, Charl Coetzee (Rsa) 73 70 67
211Ulrich Van Den Berg (Rsa) 71 68 72, Tyrone Mordt (Rsa) 71 69 71, Bjorn Akesson (Swe) 70 70 71, Matthew Nixon 77 67 67, Andrew Curlewis (Rsa) 69 73 69, Jonathan Moore (USA) 76 67 68, Eddie Pepperell 77 67 67, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 69 72 70, Alexander Levy (Fra) 73 66 72
212Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 72 72 68, Matthew Baldwin 74 70 68, Chris Paisley 73 70 69, Simon Wakefield 70 73 69, David Drysdale 74 67 71, Danie Van Tonder (Rsa) 73 71 68, Lyle Rowe (Rsa) 74 67 71, Justin Walters (Rsa) 72 71 69, Alexandre Kaleka (Fra) 72 67 73, Christopher Doak 74 67 71
213Merrick Bremner (Rsa) 72 71 70, Titch Moore (Rsa) 74 70 69, Lasse Jensen (Den) 72 69 72, Warren Abery (Rsa) 73 71 69, Doug McGuigan 78 66 69, Derik Ferreira (Rsa) 69 70 74, James Morrison 72 72 69, Louis De Jager (Rsa) 72 71 70, Ross McGowan 73 69 71
214Brandon Pieters (Rsa) 76 68 70, Peter Erofejeff (Fin) 73 68 73, Andrew Marshall 75 66 73, Joost Luiten (Ned) 74 67 73, Matteo Delpodio (Ita) 72 68 74
215Christiaan Basson (Rsa) 72 68 75, Ryan Strauss (Rsa) 71 71 73, Jbe Kruger (Rsa) 73 71 71, Daniel Greene (Rsa) 70 74 71, Andreas Harto (Den) 72 72 71, Vaughn Groenewald (Rsa) 71 73 71
216Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 71 73 72, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 69 74 73, Jake Roos (Rsa) 72 72 72, Anthony Snobeck (Fra) 72 71 73
217Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 73 70 74, Wallie Coetsee (Rsa) 69 73 75
219Jaco Ahlers (Rsa) 71 73 75
220Christian Cevaer (Fra) 74 70 76
225Mark Williams (Rsa) 73 71 81
