MJ Viljoen made a big move towards securing a spot in the Asian Tour’s Final Qualifying School on Friday when he carded a four-under-par 66 in the third round of Qualifying School Section D to move to a share of 13th.
Viljoen seemed to have found his footing on the Thana City Country Club course, made six birdies and a double-bogey for his best score of the week that has got progressively better. He opened with a two-over 72, carded a two-under 68 in the second round, and then came good in the third round.
With one round to go, he is six shots off the lead, shared by Korean amateur Jaehyun Jung and his countryman Heemin Chang. They lead by two from five players on eight-under.
There are two other South Africans in the field in Section D, and both Keegan Mclachlan and Pieter Moolman made good moves towards being able to progress to the final stage. Mclachlan carded a level-par 70, and, at one-under is in a share of 25th. Moolman had a one-under 69 and moved to one-over for the tournament. Both he and Mclachlan will be looking for strong final rounds to ensure they progress.
In the Section E event at Springfield Royal Country Club, Albert Venter and Kyle Barker are both strongly placed inside the top 10 ahead of the final round. They both carded two-under-par 69 in the third round, and, at four-under, are on a share of seventh, five shots off the lead.
Louis Albertse is two shots further back on two-under after a 69 of his own, in a share of 13th. Luca Filippi is in a share of 19th on one-under, Drikus Joubert is on level-par in a share of 24th with Lyle Rowe, and Wynand Dingle is in 32nd on one-over. All of those have a chance of advancing with a good closing round.
Richardt Albertse is on five-over in a share of 52nd, but Noel Anderson, Herman Loubser, Regan Steyn and amateur Donavan Liddicoat all missed the 54-hole cut.
