Thriston Lawrence produced another masterclass of patience and control to earn a three-stroke lead going into Sunday’s final round of the Joburg Open at Houghton Golf Club.
On a hot day at Houghton that kept even the hadedas quiet, Lawrence signed for a third round of 67 to climb to 15 under par overall as he seeks to claim a second Joburg Open title following his win in 2021.
His nearest challenger is Dean Burmester on 12 under after he signed for a 68, while Jacques Kruyswijk and Nikhil Rama are well placed on 11 under par after respective rounds of 69 and 72.
After all the intensity of a Saturday in professional golf, Lawrence spoke with the calm resolve of a man who saw his plan fall into place.
“I had a job to do and I executed nicely,” he said.
“I had a game plan, and that was to try and play the exact same golf I did the first two days and I executed it. I stayed nice and patient. I could’ve probably gone lower than three under and there were a couple more putts I could’ve made, but it’s Saturday and the final group so it’s not always going to go your way. But it was still a job well done.”
It was indeed a well-executed game plan on a day which began with Lawrence one shot behind leader Rama.
The 22-year-old Rama, playing possibly the biggest third round of his professional career, did extremely well to recover from a double bogey at the opening hole and keep himself in contention.
Kruyswijk was equally resilient as he bogeyed two of his first three holes and then unleashed his frustration on a run of four birdies in six holes thereafter to fight his way back into the title chase.
And Lawrence looked the most comfortable of all, especially on his chip-in to save par on the eighth.
Our leader, saving par in style.@ThristonL 👏#JoburgOpen pic.twitter.com/PqFKmH9OAi
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) November 25, 2023
“I’m very happy with my game at the moment. I’ve learnt the last couple of years playing on these big stages that you need to stay patient. I’ve done a good job of forgetting about the bogeys and staying in the present. That was what I wanted to achieve today and I did that.”
What the top four players on the leaderboard said ahead of the final round. 🗣️🏆
— Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour) November 25, 2023
👤@ThristonL -15
👤 @BurmyGolf -12
👤 Jacques Kruyswijk -11
👤 Nikhil Rama -11#JoburgOpen | #JoburgOpen2023 | #GreatnessBeginsHere | #SunshineTour pic.twitter.com/ixTDAbjVcQ
Scores:
195 - Thriston Lawrence 62 66 67
198 - Dean Burmester 68 62 68
199 - Jacques Kruyswijk 66 64 69, Nikhil Rama 65 62 72
200 - Zander Lombard 66 65 69
201 - Darren Fichardt 66 67 68
202 - Daniel Brown 69 68 65
203 - MJ Viljoen 67 71 65, Frederic Lacroix 67 70 66, Jayden Schaper 66 70 67, Deon Germishuys 68 67 68, Ross Fisher 70 65 68, Dylan Frittelli 68 67 68, Christiaan Bezuidenhout 69 66 68, Dan Bradbury 66 69 68
204 - Jake Redman 69 70 65, Alexander Knappe 69 68 67, Louis de Jager 69 68 67, Jeppe Kristian Andersen 70 66 68, Andy Sullivan 66 70 68, Chase Hanna 69 66 69
205 - Thomas Aiken 69 71 65, JC Ritchie 70 70 65, Benjamin Follett-Smith 72 68 65, Neil Schietekat 70 69 66, Scott Jamieson 71 67 67, Ryan Van Velzen 68 70 67, Stuart Manley 66 71 68, Dylan Mostert 68 67 70, Tapio Pulkkanen 69 66 70, Manuel Elvira 71 64 70
206 - Jacques Blaauw 70 70 66, Gavin Green 70 69 67, Dale Whitnell 69 69 68
207 - Malcolm Mitchell 67 73 67, Rupert Kaminski 70 70 67, Niklas Norgaard 71 67 69, Jason Roets 72 66 69, Adri Arnaus 68 69 70, Bryce Easton 69 67 71, Jaco Prinsloo 66 66 75
208 - Darius van Driel 67 73 68, Matteo Manassero 70 70 68, Jacques P de Villiers 70 69 69, Keenan Davidse 72 67 69, Hennie du Plessis 71 68 69, Casey Jarvis 68 68 72
209 - Jaco Van Zyl 67 73 69, Aaron Cockerill 69 70 70, Shubhankar Sharma 70 69 70, Jaco Ahlers 69 69 71, Adrien Saddier 72 66 71, Stephen Gallacher 66 72 71, Merrick Bremner 68 70 71, Oliver Bekker 70 67 72, Sam Bairstow 72 64 73
210 - Oliver Wilson 68 71 71, Luca Filippi 71 68 71, Dylan Naidoo 69 69 72
211 - Anthony Michael 69 71 71, David Ravetto 69 70 72, Luke Jerling 70 69 72, Francesco Laporta 71 68 72, Combrinck Smit 71 66 74
212 - Ashley Chesters 68 72 72, Haydn Porteous 71 69 72, Joakim Lagergren 68 69 75
213 - Lucas Vacarisas 71 69 73, Adam Blomme 70 69 74
214 - Jesper Svensson 66 73 75
215 - Kyle Barker 71 69 75
216 - John Gough 71 69 76