European Tour: Leishman Takes Control at Nedbank

Marc Leishman leads by one at the Nedbank Golf Challenge. Mandatory Credit: Porter Binks-USA TODAY Sports

After 54 holes, the European Tour’s Nedbank Golf Challenge has a new leader. On Saturday, Australia’s Marc Leishman shot an impressive 66 at Gary Player Country Club to surge into the top spot, one stroke clear of Henrik Stenson.

Leishman played his front nine in two-under and proceeded to eagle ten, but a bogey on the next hole served to kill his momentum. Still, the 32-year-old battled back with another birdie on 15. By this point, Leishman was trailing Stenson by three, but a dynamite birdie-birdie finish put him in a great position. Meanwhile, the world’s top-ranked Swede played his last three holes with a score of two-over, handing over the lead.

“It was a good day,” Leishman said after his round. “I got the speed of the greens a lot better today. I’d been missing a lot of putts low all week from hitting them a bit soft, so I fixed that today and managed to hole some putts, which was the main difference.”

For Stenson, it was a disappointing finish to an otherwise rock-solid day. The 39-year-old was in the midst of a four-under round and had pushed his score to 15-under before squaring bogeys on 16 and 18. Still, Stenson will be extremely dangerous tomorrow–a winner at Gary Player CC in 2008, he’s proven that he knows how to tame the course.

While pleased with himself, Leishman seems to be cognizant of the challenge that lies ahead of him. “I saw Henrik was getting away a little bit so I had to try to do something to make it interesting for tomorrow,” said Leishman. “Hopefully I can have another good round like today and give him a run for his money.”

More from Pro Golf Now

Of course, the top two won’t be the only ones vying for the title tomorrow. Native South African Jaco Van Zyl sits alone in third place, four strokes behind Leishman. He kicked off his round with back-to-back birdies on the opening holes, but the rest of his front nine was uneven; with a pair of bogeys and a birdie, he made the turn at one-under. After six consecutive pars to start the back nine, Van Zyl bogeyed 16 and 17 (which actually put him at one-over on his day) before birdieing 18 and settling for an eventful 72.

American Robert Streb matched Van Zyl’s score, but his round featured far fewer ups and downs. The Kansas State product made two birdies, two bogeys and 14 pars, losing a bit of ground to the leaders. Trailing by five strokes, he has an outside chance heading into tomorrow.

More from European tour

The same can hesitantly be said about Branden Grace and Bernd Wiesberger, who currently share fifth place. After shooting a disappointing 74 yesterday, Grace was much improved on moving day. The South African bogeyed the first hole but didn’t drop a shot the rest of the way, finishing with a 67. Wiesberger signed for a 68, his first sub-70 round of the week. These two trail Leishman by seven shots, but only four players are ahead of them–under the right circumstances, one of them could pull it off.

Louis Oosthuizen is alone in seventh place after a 68. A group comprised of Thongchai Jaidee, Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Chris Wood is tied for eighth at five-under, rounding out the top 10.

Defending champion Danny Willett is tied for 11th. Ditto for Race to Dubai leader Charl Schwartzel, who climbed 11 spots up the leaderboard after his 67. Credit to both of them for keeping competitive, but at this point, their chances of winning are probably zero.

Next: Japan Sweeps Fourball Matches at The QUEENS

The stage is set for an exciting final day at the Nedbank Golf Challenge. Will Leishman hang on for his first European Tour victory, or does Stenson redeem himself and pull it off down the stretch? You’ll have to tune into Golf Channel at 6 a.m. EST tomorrow to find out.

Home/European tour