MJ Viljoen may have wondered why his fortunes turned sour on the back nine, but the 29-year-old held his round together to take a one-stroke lead after the third and penultimate round of the Mopani Zambia Open at Nkana Golf Club on Saturday.
Viljoen was three-under-par for his round through eight holes on Saturday, but suffered four bogeys coming home. But he showed his mettle by birdieing the 16th and 17th holes to finish with a one-under-par 71 for nine-under-par overall.
Jacques P. de Villiers shot an excellent 68 on Saturday to move to eight-under-par, tied for second with Dayne Moore, who slipped back in the third round with a 74.
Conditions were more difficult on Saturday with the wind picking up around the woodlands course.
“The wind was up today and it kept me busy, especially on the back nine,” Viljoen said. “I almost turned three-under but I was unfortunate on nine. I hot two gorgeous shots but I unfortunately went three metres too far and the ball rolled down the back and from there it’s bogey all day.
“And then on 10 I just nicked a tree, which threw me into trouble. So I had two bad lies in a row and then I had a bad bounce long-right on 13. I just struggled to get momentum on the back nine. But otherwise I was going well and played some flawless golf.”
The Serengeti Estates golfer said positive things is what he will be focusing on going into the final round as he chases his third Sunshine Tour title and his first since September 2022 at the SunBet Challenge Wild Coast.
“I’m trying to look at all the good bounces I got rather than the bad ones and I won’t be changing anything in my game-plan. My mental coach, Shaun Landsberg, has been working with me on uysing bad thoughts to my advantage. Last week I had a breakthrough, I must just let go and let it happen. My focus is going to be on where my confidence is,” Viljoen said.
SCORES:
207 - MJ Viljoen 66 70 71
208 - Jacques P de Villiers 70 70 68, Dayne Moore 70 64 74
212 - Heinrich Bruiners 69 75 68, Fredrik From 70 70 72, Kyle Barker 70 68 74
214 - Pierre Pellegrin 75 71 68, CJ du Plessis 72 71 71, Daniel van Tonder 72 70 72, Lyle Rowe 69 72 73
215 - Stuart Krog 72 74 69, Visitor Mapwanya 70 73 72, Brandon Pieters 70 72 73
216 - Drikus Joubert 75 73 68, Conner Mackenzie 75 72 69, Luke Brown 75 70 71
217 - Neil Schietekat 74 74 69, Jack Hawksby 73 73 71, Kyle De Beer 74 71 72, Graham van der Merwe 72 71 74
218 - Hennie O'Kennedy 73 73 72
219 - Toto Thimba Jnr 71 77 71, Rhys West 73 75 71, Keegan Mclachlan 74 73 72, Brandon Gildenhuys 73 73 73
220 - James Mack 72 75 73, Werner Deyzel 71 74 75, Therion Nel 73 72 75, Madalitso Muthiya 69 74 77
221 - Jake Redman 76 74 71, Keagan Thomas 68 80 73, Jason Roets 68 76 77
222 - Jean Hugo 75 74 73, Stals Swart 78 71 73, Bwembwa Chanda 76 72 74, Njoroge Kibugu 70 77 75
223 - DK Kim 75 76 72, Stephen Ferreira 78 72 73, Danie Van Niekerk 75 75 73, Gilbert Chalwe 76 74 73, Rourke van der Spuy 77 72 74, Gary Kemp 75 73 75, Nick Cunningham 74 73 76
224 - Johan Theron 76 75 73, Travis Ladner 74 76 74, Promise Sombreiro 78 72 74, Sydney Joseph Wemba 74 76 74, Haydn Porteous 74 73 77, Francois van Staden 71 76 77, Ricky Hendler 72 75 77, Robson Chinhoi 73 72 79, Otto Van Buynder 70 74 80
225 - Jake Roos 76 75 74, Kelly Tembo 78 71 76, Kyle McClatchie 73 76 76, Hayden Griffiths 70 79 76, Samuel Simpson 74 73 78
226 - Nji Pristhly 72 79 75, Adrian Andrade 76 75 75
227 - Ruan Groenewald 75 76 76, Tristin Galant 74 77 76
229 - Henry Mwanza 73 78 78
230 - Basil Wright Jr 72 76 82
232 - Gabriel Chibale 73 76 83
Missed the cut:-
152 - Terence Boardman 76 76, Christian Kriek 72 80
153 - James Pennington 76 77, Warwick Purchase 76 77, Timothy M Sondashi 74 79, Shaahid Mahmed 79 74, Ruan de Smidt 73 80, Christopher Long 77 76, Pride Sembo 76 77, Tiger Adams 77 76
154 - David Amm 76 78, Ntengwa Mukosa 75 79, Gerhard Pepler 78 76, Ethan Smith 79 75, Adam Breen 76 78, Dominic Musonda 75 79, Innocent Chalwe 77 77, Umar Davids 79 75, Michael Chuma 75 79
155 - Leonard Chibwe 79 76, Aaron Simfukwe Jnr 82 73, Jordan Duminy 78 77
156 - Denmark Mulambo 74 82, Mohammad Rauf Mandhu 77 79, Mandla Dlamini Jnr 77 79
157 - Luke Trocado 74 83
158 - Paul Adam Chidale 79 79, Thabang Simon 76 82
159 - Biggie Chibvuri 80 79, Funga Ebenenzer 74 85, Davison Elijah 74 85, Victor Kachepatsonga 77 82, Steven Le Roux 75 84, Morton Muwowo 80 79
160 - Lwazi Gqira 78 82
161 - Patrick Mwendapole Snr 80 81
162 - Regan Steyn 84 78
163 - Adam Sailesi 81 82, Tongoona Charamba 82 81, Anyway Katembenuka 79 84
164 - Liberty Gumisa 80 84, Keagan Bwalya 82 82
165 - Raphael Phiri 78 87, Dezzie Ngandu 81 84
166 - Francis Musonda 80 86, Beza Daka 84 82
167 - Mapalo Shakemba 83 84, Moses Chewe 85 82, Daniel Delpierro 78 89
170 - Gibson Mutoya 87 83
183 - Benjamin Fouche 90 93
191 - Aadam Hamir 90 101
RTD - Irvin Mazibuko 81 RTD