Jaco Ahlers, JJ Senekal and Ockie Strydom have set up a thrilling finale to the Stella Artois Players Championship as they head into Sunday’s final round in a three-way tie for the lead on 13 under par.
The trio are one shot clear of Estiaan Conradie and Rourke van der Spuy, while Luke Jerling produced a scintillating 62 to climb to 10 under par overall.
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Senekal had a terrific run of four birdies and an eagle over the turn which carried him into a share of the lead as he signed for a 67. Ahlers produced a solid 69 to take his share of the lead, and Strydom – who led by two going into the third round – birdied the last for a 71 to keep himself in contention.
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But apart from Jerling’s incredible round, it was a far tougher day of scoring at Dainfern than in the previous rounds.
“It was a lot windier and the greens have started firming up quite a bit. If you keep missing it on the wrong side of the flag you can have quite a difficult time,” said Ahlers.
As a nine-time winner on the Sunshine Tour, Ahlers is hoping his experience will make the difference in the final round.
“It’s always good to lead, but I feel like today could have been so much more different. I hit good putts but they just didn’t go in. I don’t think I need to look too much into it. I had four lip-outs and a few other putts that missed by fractions, so I’ll just put it down to being one of those days.”
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Ahlers will be seeing out the Sunshine Tour season with this week’s tournament and then next week’s season-ending Tour Championship before he heads off to Korea for his Asian Tour duties.
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“It’s a good two weeks these. If you do well you can jump a few places on the Order of Merit, although that number one spot (currently held by Shaun Norris) is pretty much out of our reach. But it’s a good two weeks to end the season with.”
Photo Credit: Carl Fourie/Sunshine Tour
