George Coetzee climbed inside the top 10 on Saturday in the third round of the DP World Tour’s Ras al Kaimah Classic with a five-under-par 67 lifting him into a share of ninth at the Al Hamra Golf Club in the United Arab Emirates.
Coetzee made six birdies and a bogey to move to 11-under-par from the tournament. That’s a yawning eight-stroke gap to the runaway leader, Ryan Fox of New Zealand, who continued to go low with a seven-under-par 65 taking him to 19-under for the week. That’s six clear of his pursuers, Adrian Meronk of Poland, Scott Jamieson of Scotland and the Spanish duo of Adri Arnaus and Pablo Larrazabal.
Coetzee had a superb opening nine, starting with three birdies in a row from the first hole. He picked up two more ahead of the turn which he reached in 31, and then he dropped a shot on the 12th. He got that back with a birdie on 13, and had pars all the way home.
Thriston Lawrence also had a five-under 67 to climb into a share of 21st on nine-under with Oliver Bekker and Zander Lombard. Bekker was unable to reproduce the fireworks of his course-record 62 the day before, and signed for a level-par 72, the same as Lombard.
Justin Harding had a one-over 73 to be in a share of 28th on eight-under, while Brandon Stone’s three-under 69 took him to seven-under and a share of 37th with Justin Walters, Shaun Norris and Daniel van Tonder. Richard Sterne was on four-under.
