Andrew Curlewis © Gallo Images

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He started on the 10th, and made his first birdie on the 16th, after which an eagle three on 18 set in motion a charge for home which saw him take just 30 strokes on the inward nine.

He leads from Christiaan Basson, who overcame a bogey on the 3rd hole to card a seven-under 65 to be two shots clear of Dion Fourie in third. Fourie shot a four-under 68.

The winner of the 54-hole tournament will get a place in the weekend’s Gary Player Invitational presented by Coca-Cola at Fancourt’s The Links.

“I’m really happy with seven birdies and an eagle,” said Curlewis, who was the only player in the 30-man field not to lose a shot to par.

“Yesterday, I made three drops in the first six holes, and since then I have been 13-under for the next 30,” he said. He didn’t think his drive had gone particularly far on 18 where he made his eagle, and he hit a six-iron into the green over the water. “I holed about a 25-footer for eagle,” he said.

“I made about a 20-footer for birdie on 8, but other than that, everything was within ten foot,” he said.

Basson’s putting put the cherry on top of a game that has been solid for the last few weeks on the Sunshine Tour: “I made a couple of putts today, and I think that was the difference,” he said.

And the putts were not all short ones, either: “I made a nice 20-foot putt for birdie on the 12th. And I hit a couple close on the back stretch, but I also made a 20-footer on 15.”

He was nearly able to turn his lead into a bigger one too: “On the 18th, I had about 20 foot downhill. I just hit it a little bit firm. If it didn’t have as much pace, it might have turned in,” he said.

“I had just one blemish on my card, so I’m happy with my round,” said Fourie after he made double-bogey five on the 12th. “But it’s good to be in contention,” he added.

He’ll have to erase the three-stroke deficit between himself and Curlewis first, and Curlewis is in no mood to be charitable: “I’ve had a couple of chances this year, and hopefully, I can finish it off tomorrow.”

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