Casey Jarvis shared the lead for the third straight day at the 2026 Magical Kenya Open as he and Angel Ayora went into the final round tied at 17 under par.
Spaniard Ayora carded a six-under-par 64, his second of the week, but Jarvis' 66 ensured he stayed locked at the top.
Fellow South African Hennie Du Plessis was a shot behind along with American Davis Bryant, with the top eight on the leaderboard all chasing their maiden win on the DP World Tour.
Ayora went out in 33 with birdies at the second and seventh before a run of three in a row straight after the turn took him to 16 under.
His playing partners Bryant and Du Plessis both birdied the last to join him on that mark before the Spaniard slotted in a four of his own to go one ahead again.
Jarvis was coming down the hole in the group behind and was safely in the fairway off the tee, ultimately also making birdie as his eagle putt came up a foot short.
Jarvis, who shared the lead with Niklas Lemke after day one, with Frederic Lacroix through two rounds and now Ayora, said: "I think I played pretty solid, played the front nine really nicely, just didn't make as many putts as I would have liked. Bit of a shaky tenth hole but brought it back nicely.
"I kind of knew what the other guys were doing. There was a leaderboard on, I think, the eighth hole and I kind of saw that they were all playing pretty nicely. I wasn't thinking of it much, I just stuck to my game plan.
"(Ayora's) a fantastic player and I think tomorrow we'll both hopefully push each other and we'll see what happens."
How it stands in Kenya with 18 holes to play 📊#MKO2026 pic.twitter.com/JpHX3rYHEo
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Ayora said: "Well today was a nice round, bogey-free, that's an amazing feeling. I'm playing very good and hope to repeat that tomorrow.
"I think the most important thing on this course is to be good from the second shot to the green and the putting, and I think if you have opportunities to make it, you've got to take it."
On the prospect of a maiden win, he added: "It would be amazing but I said yesterday I'm going to try to enjoy it, try to have fun tomorrow, and we'll see."
Du Plessis recovered from bogeys at the third and fourth holes to shoot 65, with six birdies on the back nine including each of the last three holes.
Bryant was one better on the day, following Friday's 63 with a 64 to also reach 16 under - the 26-year-old has dropped just two shots in his 54 holes.
He said: "I just rolled in some putts on the front, kind of got up some momentum and got hot a little bit. I'm very pleased with today, crowds are great - excited for tomorrow."
Francesco Laporta was on his own at 15 under after a 65 while Nathan Kimsey was the first of the leading pack to complete his round, a bogey-free 64 capped by an exceptional up-and-down at the last to record his sixth birdie of the day and reach 14 under.
The Englishman said: "It's obviously a nice position to be in whenever you're in contention, that's what you're trying to do come Saturday afternoon for Sunday. It'll be nice to go out there tomorrow with a chance to win and we'll see what happens."
Kimsey was joined at 14 under by Jacob Skov Olesen, after the Dane shot 65 with all five of his birdies coming on the back nine, and Portugal's Ricardo Gouveia after a 67.
Aaron Cockerill reached 13 under with a 62, the low round of the day. The Canadian started on the back nine with three birdies and an eagle then responded to a dropped shot at the third by finishing his day with a run of four birdies.
He was joined in ninth place by Ryan van Velzen and Antoine Rozner. The Frenchman has three DP World Tour titles to his name, making him the only previous winner among the 11 players within four shots of the lead.
Njoroge Kibugu, the Kenyan who delighted the home crowd with an eagle at Friday's final hole to make the cut, shot 74 on Saturday to end the day one under.
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