George Coetzee chasing Tshwane Open history

George Coetzee will seek to become the first multiple winner of the Tshwane Open when he takes a two-stroke lead into Sunday’s final round at Pretoria Country Club.

Coetzee leads on 14 under par following a third round of 68, with England’s Sam Horsfield and Finland’s Mikko Korhonen his nearest challengers on 12 under.

Horsfield made the biggest move of the third round with a 64 that saw him start with four straight birdies and also make three birdies in four holes over the turn.

Coetzee won the 2015 Tshwane Open, the year the tournament moved to Pretoria Country Club. A victory on Sunday would make him the first to win the tournament twice.

But the local Pretoria professional is refusing to think any further than his first drive on Sunday.

“I’m looking forward to the final round, but I’m not thinking anything beyond that at the moment. It’s great to have the local support here though. Hopefully I can give them something to cheer about on Sunday,” he said.

Although he finished his third round with a bogey, Coetzee did most of his scoring on the second nine where he made three birdies to distance himself from the field.

“I’m happy with how I played. The front nine wasn’t that great, but I managed to play really nice from nine onwards,” he said of a round where he was level par through eight holes and then made four birdies in seven holes from the ninth.

Behind him, Korhonen is in contention for the second year running after finishing tied second here last year. And Horsfield is equally excited about having worked his way close to the lead.

“Everybody wants to use the third round to get into contention and I did that. The final round is going to be good.”