Schaper leads South African charge for glory in “Africa’s Major”

South Africa’s Jayden Schaper is chasing a childhood dream as he heads into Sunday’s final round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge in honour of Gary Player just five shots off the lead of Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan.

The 24-year-old Schaper, who is making his debut in this tournament, will start Sunday’s final round on 12 under par following his third round of 66. He’ll tee off in the final group alongside the leader Reitan on 17 under par, who had an eventful end to his third round of 67.

The Norwegian, who has led from day one, was comfortably ahead of the field on Saturday before he hit his second deep into the bushes left of the 18th on his way to a double-bogey six. It came after a significant weather delay, with lightning and a storm forcing the players into the clubhouse late in the afternoon and with Reitan still to complete three holes.

“I’m disappointed with the finish on 18. The weather delay was tricky, and also I watched Arsenal lose in the Player’s Lounge which didn’t put me in a great mood. But overall I’m happy with my performance. The final round is 18 new holes and I’m looking forward to starting fresh,” he said.

It opened the door for Schaper – who closed with three birdies in his final five holes –and it gave him even more hope of the possibility of a magical Sunday in his career.

“You grow up watching this event, and when we used to come here you were always staying in hotels with the players and seeing them. This is always an event that I wanted to play in. It’s been a lot of hard work to get here, and today was such a cool experience with a lot of support out there from my family and friends,” said Schaper.

It’s a big moment for the young star, who is ably supported by countryman Christiaan Bezuidenhout on 10 under par as he also chases a first South African victory in this event since 2017.

And as England’s Dan Bradbury also noted from his position seven shots off the lead, “This is Sun City – anything can happen here on the final day”.