JOHANNESBURG, January 14 – Dawie van der Walt beat the rain and darkness on Saturday to post a five-under-par 67 for the clubhouse lead at 12-under-par 203 in the third-round of the €1,3-million Joburg Open being played at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club.

That mark was matched by a round of eight-under-par 64 by Canada’s Andrew Parr, who racked up eight birdies and didn’t drop a single shot as he tore his way around the tough 6,995-metre (7,650-yard) East Course.

But the tournament leaders – Branden Grace and England’s Richard Finch – were on 15-under-par when the siren blew to take the players off the course before the round was complete for the third day in a row.

Grace had just knocked in three birdies in a row to move into a share of the lead with Finch, who had turned his third-round fortunes around with a chip-in for eagle from a greenside bunker on eight, having slipped up with bogeys on four and seven.

Grace was on five-under for his round and playing the 16th when play was called off for the day, and Finch was playing 15 at four-under.

And one behind them was George Coetzee on 14-under, playing the 15th in a round that was filled with well-made pars and just three birdies – just what he said he wanted ahead of the start of the third round.

Jbe’ Kruger was on 12-under with Van der Walt and Parr, and he was on the 16th.

In the final group still out on the course was England’s Robert Rock, who was battling to keep his round on track after making bogey on the 10th, his second of the day. He was level-par through 14 and on 11-under for the tournament – together with Danny Willett who had completed his round, and Michiel Bothma who was on the 17th.

“I don’t know how much tougher this course can play,” said Van der Walt as he looked back on his round. “I thought they used all the really hard flags for the third round. We’ll see what they’ve got for us tomorrow.

“I’ll be firing at the flags regardless of where they put them,” he added. 

Incomplete scores (RSA unless specified):

-15 - Branden Grace 67 66 (-5) [15], Richard Finch (ENG) 66 66 (-4) [14]

-14 - George Coetzee 65 67 (-3) [14]

-12 - Andrew Parr (CAN) 70 69 64, Dawie van der Walt 70 66 67, Jbe' Kruger 67 66 (-2) [15]

-11 - Danny Willett (ENG) 69 67 68, Michiel Bothma 68 66 (-2) [16], Robert Rock (ENG) 65 67 (Par) [14]

-10 - Joakim Lagergren (SWE) 70 67 68, Trevor Fisher Jnr 68 68 69, Jaco van Zyl 67 69 69, Bernd Wiesberger (AUT) 70 66 69, Marc Warren (SCO) 66 69 70, Scott Jamieson (SCO) 68 67 70, Retief Goosen 66 67 (Par) [15]

-9 - David Drysdale (SCO) 65 72 69, Reinier Saxton (NED) 64 73 69, Warren Abery 66 72 68, Magnus A Carlsson (SWE) 70 66 70, Thomas Aiken 68 68 70, Shaun Norris 65 69 (Par) [17]

-8 - Matthew Nixon (ENG) 70 67 70, Julien Quesne (FRA) 65 72 70, Ulrich van den Berg 68 68 71, Jean Hugo 68 67 72

-7 - Jamie Elson (ENG) 63 75 70, Craig Lee (SCO) 64 74 70, Jordi Garcia (ESP) 66 72 70, Adam Gee (ENG) 69 70 69, Darren Fichardt 68 71 (-3) [16], Markus Brier (AUT) 71 68 (-3) [16], Tommy Fleetwood (ENG) 66 73 (-3) [16], George Murray (SCO) 65 69 (+2) [16]

-6 - Theunis Spangenberg 69 68 72, Ryan Tipping 68 69 72, Jake Roos 69 68 72, Phillip Archer (ENG) 71 67 71, Daniel Gaunt (AUS) 69 67 73, Lyle Rowe 66 69 (+2) [17], Sam Little (ENG) 68 71 (-2) [16]

-5 - Chris Swanepoel 68 69 73, Brandon Pieters 66 71 73, Divan van den Heever 67 70 73, Brandon Stone (AMA) 72 65 73, Andrew Marshall (ENG) 70 69 71, Damien McGrane (IRL) 63 71 (+4) [17], Doug McGuigan 69 70 (-1) [16], Lee Slattery (ENG) 72 67 (-1) [15]

-4 - Hendrik Buhrmann 72 66 73, Anthony Wall (ENG) 73 65 73, Roope Kakko (FIN) 71 68 (Par) [16]

-3 - Peter Karmis 64 73 75, Justin Walters 69 70 73, Adilson Da Silva (BRA) 71 68 (+1) [16], Joel Sjoholm (SWE) 65 74 (+1) [16], Benjamin Hebert (FRA) 67 72 (+1) [16], Alastair Forsyth(SCO) 74 65 (+1) [15]

-2 - Scott Pinckney (USA) 64 72 77, Desvonde Botes 65 69 (+7) [16], Anthony Snobeck (FRA) 72 67 (+2) [16], Keith Horne 72 67 (+2) [15]

-1 - Thomas Norret (DEN) 66 71 77, Carlos Del Moral (ESP) 65 72 77

Par - Sam Hutsby (ENG) 68 71 (+4) [16]

+2 - Steven Ferreira 74 65 (+6) [16]

+5 - Bennie van der Merwe 67 72 81

Source: Sunshine Tour Media Release, powered by the Golfblogger Network