Wilco Nienaber carded a third-round one-under-par 71 on Saturday as he moved into a share of seventh ahead of the final round of the Hainan Open at Sanya Luhuitou Golf Club on Hainan Island, China.
It was four birdies and three bogeys for the big-hitting South African as he moved to 12-under-par through 54 holes. That put him fours strokes off the lead, which was held by Finn Oliver Lindell’ whose four-under 68 took him to 16-under. That was two strokes clear of second-placed Niklas Lemke of Sweden and Lloyd Jefferson Go of the Philippines.
There were three players on 13-under in a share of fourth, and Nienaber shared seventh with two others, including compatriot JC Ritchie. Ritchie battled to a third round of level-par 72, which saw him drop out of a share of the lead.
For Ritchie, it’s almost essential that he have a good final round as he looks to finish inside the top 45 in the Road to Mallorca rankings ahead of the Challenge Tour Grand Final, and then push to make the top 20 to earn his DP World Tour card.
Nienaber is projected to climb to 20th, so he needs to keep pushing if he is to be certain to get onto the main circuit next year.
Deon Germishuys looks likely to win his card, barring some very poor performances over the next tournament and the Grand Final. He had a third round of four-under-par 68 to move to 10-under and a share of 12th.
