It was a round that had a little bit of everything, but all of it was good enough to earn Jean-Paul Strydom a two-stroke lead going into Friday’s final day of the Sunbet Challenge hosted by Time Square at Wingate Park Country Club.
Strydom signed for a six-under-par 66 including an eagle, six birdies and two bogeys, to take the lead on 12 under par.
His nearest challengers are South Africans Gerhard Pepler and James Mack, and Australia’s Austin Bautista on 10 under par.
Multiple DP World Tour winner George Coetzee is also well placed just three strokes off the lead.
Jean-Paul Strydom is looking for his first win on the Sunshine Tour since 2019.
— Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour) August 21, 2025
🎥 follow the thread below see his birdie on the final hole. 🧵#SunbetChallenge #SunshineTour #GreatnessBeginsHere pic.twitter.com/J4f5cHQW1H
But for Strydom, it was the kind of day he’d like to “copy and paste” for the final round as he looks to claim his first victory since 2019.
“Hopefully, we can just copy and paste what we have been doing over the last two days. I’ve been in this position a couple of times and only brought it home once, so a second title would mean a lot to me,” he said.
“Today was good. It started a bit shaky off the tee, but I managed to find a bit of rhythm. It was the same in the first round. I made a soft bogey on my 17th hole (the par-three eighth), but I bounced back with a birdie on my final hole, which is always nice.”
Jean-Paul Strydom’s birdie on the final hole.#SunbetChallenge #SunshineTour #GreatnessBeginsHere pic.twitter.com/4c0Wkqep8N
— Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour) August 21, 2025
Strydom has struggled with injury and knows the value of this two-stroke lead and the chance he now has. But he’s also doing his best not to get ahead of himself.
“The game plan is literally to find the fairways and make the putts. That is the key at Wingate. But I’m looking forward to the final round.”
SCORES
132 - Jean-Paul Strydom 66 66
134 - Gerhard Pepler 69 65, Austin Bautista 69 65, James Mack 65 69
135 - George Coetzee 68 67, Jonathan Broomhead 69 66
136 - Martin Vorster 66 70, Tyran Snyders 68 68, Jacquin Hess 67 69, Ethan Smith 68 68, Jake Redman 70 66
137 - Tyrone Ryan 70 67, Joe Long 70 67, Simon du Plooy 68 69, Marcus Sandile Taylor 68 69, Jacques Blaauw 66 71, Martin Rohwer 68 69, Ruan Korb 72 65
138 - Ricky Hendler 67 71, Kyle Barker 68 70, Jordan Duminy 68 70, Estiaan Conradie 71 67, James Pennington 71 67, Lyle Rowe 71 67, Yurav Premlall 68 70, Kyle De Beer 74 64
139 - Matthew Spacey 71 68, Neil Schietekat 64 75, Keelan van Wyk 70 69, Jack Hawksby 71 68, Warwick Purchase 72 67
140 - Gregory Mckay 74 66, Louis Albertse 70 70, Fredrik From 71 69, Jason Roets 75 65, Albert Venter 70 70, Conner Mackenzie 68 72, Kieran Vincent 70 70, Luis Carrera 67 73
141 - Otto Van Buynder 74 67, Rowan Lester 69 72, Christiaan Burke 72 69, Benjamin Van Wyk 71 70, Graham van der Merwe 72 69, Pierre Viallaneix 73 68, Paul Boshoff 67 74, Ruan Conradie 71 70, Musiwalo Nethunzwi 74 67, Anthony Michael 71 70, Herman Loubser 72 69, Christian Kriek 69 72
MISSED THE CUT:
142 - Altin van der Merwe 71 71, Rupert Kaminski 72 70, Jean Hugo 74 68, Nikhil Rama 72 70, Pieter Moolman 70 72, Trevor Fisher Jnr 70 72, Luca Filippi 71 71, Christiaan Basson 72 70, Keagan Thomas 72 70, Jordan Burnand 72 70, Mikkel Antonsen 72 70, Samuel Simpson 68 74, Oliver Bekker 72 70, JJ Senekal 72 70, Jacques P de Villiers 68 74, Tyron Davidowitz 71 71
143 - Keenan Davidse 74 69, Tomas Gana 72 71, Tristen Strydom 73 70, Jaco Prinsloo 71 72, Pierre Pellegrin 73 70, Stals Swart 69 74, Marcel Steyn Scholtz 73 70
144 - Luke Jerling 69 75, CJ du Plessis 68 76, Rhys West 72 72, Brandon Meads 73 71, Thomas Spreadborough 75 69, Jason Broomhead 75 69, Leon Vorster 71 73, Danie Van Niekerk 75 69, Jaco Ahlers 73 71, Rourke van der Spuy 72 72, Eric Wowor 72 72
145 - Kyle McClatchie 73 72, Peter Karmis 70 75, Sean Cronje 69 76, Franklin Manchest 70 75, Dylan Mostert 72 73, Xander Basson 72 73, Wynand Dingle 73 72, Karabo Mokoena 77 68, Michael Hollick 71 74, Allister de Kock 73 72, Ruan Groenewald 73 72, Stuart Krog 73 72
146 - Jastice Mashego 71 75, Doug McGuigan 71 75, Ruan de Smidt 71 75, Toto Thimba Jnr 73 73, Quintin Wilsnach 72 74, Allen John 74 72, Stephen Ferreira 71 75, Ryan van der Klis 76 70
147 - Mandla Dlamini Jnr 71 76, Luke Mayo 75 72, Joe Knox 72 75, Robson Chinhoi 76 71, Hennie Otto 73 74, Hennie O'Kennedy 75 72
148 - MJ Viljoen 75 73, Keanu Pestana 76 72, Zachary Chegwidden 74 74, Irvin Mosate wa Mazibuko 78 70, Hayden Griffiths 76 72, Nick Cunningham 74 74, Thabiso Ngcobo 74 74
149 - Christo Roos 72 77, Werner Deyzel 76 73, Heinrich Bruiners 73 76, Keegan Mclachlan 75 74, Makhetha Mazibuko 74 75
150 - Liam Grehan 72 78, Sentanio Minnie 72 78, Tumelo Molloyi 74 76, Trevor Mahoney 75 75, Luke Brown 72 78
151 - Tafadzwa Nyamukondiwa 75 76, Slade Pickering 75 76
152 - Keelan Africa 78 74
153 - Thanda Mavundla 74 79
159 - Umar Davids 76 83
WDN - Stefan Wears-Taylor 76 WDN, Ulrich van den Berg 71 RTD