Ryan van Velzen overcame a bogey on his very first hole on Saturday on his way to a four-under-par 67 in the third round of the DP World Tour’s Magical Kenya Open at Muthaiga Golf Club in Nairobi, Kenya.
Van Velzen followed that with four birdies in the next five holes before dropping another shot on the seventh. He regained that lost stroke with a birdie on eight, and picked up another on his homeward nine on the 17th to move to eight-under-par for the tournament and a share of third place.
He was just two shots off the lead which was shared by Manuel Elvira of Spain and Darius van Driel of the Netherlands. Both, like Van Velzen, are hunting a maiden victory on the DP World Tour. Van Velzen shared third with Joe Dean of England and Scotland’s Connor Syme.
One shot behind Van Velzen in a share of 11th were fellow-South Africans Deon Germishuys and Louis de Jager after rounds of 69 and 70 respectively. Thriston Lawrence was a further shot back on five-under after a three-under 68 took him into a share of 15th.
Jacques Kruyswijk was on four-under, and Casey Jarvis and Pieter Moolman were in a share of 33rd on three-under. Thomas Aiken was the last of the South Africans to make the cut, and he had a third round of level-par 71 to be one-under for the tournament in a share of 53rd.
