Senekal chasing a place in SA PGA Championship history

JJ Senekal will be chasing a place in the history of the South African PGA Championship, sponsored by African Bank, as he takes a one-stroke lead into Sunday’s final round at St Francis Links.

Senekal signed for a 68 on Saturday to lead on 13 under par, one stroke clear of Barend Botha, who posted a 70.

CJ du Plessis is currently third on 11 under par following a 70 of his own.

J.J Senekal closes day 3 with a 1 shot lead. #AfricanBankAtSunshineTour#PGAProfessionalChampionship2024#PGASA #AfricanBank pic.twitter.com/Cr4NjPLxRw

— African Bank (@AfricanBank) November 23, 2024

Pieter Moolman produced a course record 62, including a front nine of 29, and with not a single bogey on his card to climb to 10 under par overall.

Even more impressive is that Moolman had made the halfway cut on the mark of par before his course record on Saturday, and he left the golf course and immediately treated himself to a shot of The Glenlivet 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky.

A fitting reward for Pieter Moolman after breaking the course record at St Francis Links today. 🥃#PGAChampsSA #GreatnessBeginsHere #SunshineTour pic.twitter.com/a6jvJSpBpz

— Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour) November 23, 2024

It will be an intriguing final round, with some wind expected to test the field.

Senekal tees off with the experience of having won three times, including on the European Challenge Tour.

He also has fond memories of St Francis Links having won his first Sunshine Tour title here in 2013, and he finished third in the South African PGA Championship in 2014.

His performance this week in particular has been a much-needed boost in confidence following his struggles with injury over the past few months.

But behind him, the future of South African golf is also lining up a possible place alongside some of the legends on this trophy.

Botha impressed all with his two victories on the PGA Tour Americas this year, which has earned him playing privileges on the Korn Ferry Tour.

The 22-year-old came into this week with a sixth-place finish in last week’s Vodacom Origins of Golf at Oubaai, and clearly has the mental fortitude to manage a final round battle on this stage.

He started his third round with a double bogey six on the first and managed to regroup thereafter to remain in contention.

Wynand Dingle, who led the tournament for two days, had a difficult day on Saturday.

Dingle dropped to seven under par overall with a third round of 76, including an eight on the par-five 13th hole.

The South African PGA Championship is also proudly supported by the Eastern Cape Parks & Tourism Agency (ECPTA), the Sarah Baartman District Municipality, the Kouga Local Municipality, Momentum and Cape St Francis Resort.

SCORES:

203 - JJ Senekal 67 68 68

204 - Barend Botha 70 64 70

205 - CJ du Plessis 69 66 70

206 - Pieter Moolman 74 70 62, Hennie O'Kennedy 72 66 68

207 - Trevor Fisher Jnr 74 68 65, Gerhard Pepler 72 68 67

208 - Rourke van der Spuy 68 66 74

209 - Robson Chinhoi 71 69 69, Jean Hugo 69 70 70, Wynand Dingle 65 68 76

210 - Tyran Snyders 69 75 66, Dylan Mostert 73 67 70, Nikhil Rama 69 70 71

211 - Danie Van Niekerk 71 71 69, Quintin Wilsnach 69 68 74

212 - Malcolm Mitchell 69 72 71, Luke Brown 69 70 73, Oliver Bekker 70 69 73, Deon Germishuys 68 69 75

213 - Pierre Pellegrin 71 73 69, Daniel van Tonder 72 72 69, Herman Loubser 71 70 72, Craig Ross 71 70 72, Lyle Rowe 68 72 73

214 - Ethan Smith 70 74 70, Fredrik From 72 70 72, Jacob Oakley 72 69 73, Christiaan Basson 70 71 73, Anthony Michael 73 67 74, Callum Mowat 68 68 78

215 - JC Ritchie 73 71 71, Martin Vorster 70 74 71, Sean Bradley 72 72 71, Bryce Easton 74 70 71, MJ Viljoen 72 71 72, Jean-Paul Strydom 69 73 73, Christiaan Burke 75 65 75, Heinrich Bruiners 67 72 76, Dylan Naidoo 68 70 77

216 - Jack Hawksby 73 70 73, Karabo Mokoena 74 68 74, Estiaan Conradie 67 73 76

217 - Keelan van Wyk 72 72 73, Altin van der Merwe 72 72 73, Gary Kemp 73 70 74, Peter Karmis 74 69 74, Jaco Van Zyl 68 74 75

218 - Stals Swart 65 79 74, Andre De Decker 74 70 74, Jacques P de Villiers 73 71 74, Jaco Prinsloo 70 74 74, Samuel Simpson 72 71 75, Keenan Davidse 71 72 75, Ockie Strydom 72 70 76

219 - Gregory Mckay 77 67 75, Franklin Manchest 72 71 76, Stuart Krog 75 68 76

220 - George Coetzee 68 74 78

221 - Nick Cunningham 68 73 80, Rhys West 68 73 80

Missed the cut:

145 - Rupert Kaminski 73 72, Doug McGuigan 76 69, Njoroge Kibugu 72 73, Madalitso Muthiya 74 71, Keagan Thomas 74 71, Jason Roets 74 71, Kirby Coe-Kirkham 74 71

146 - Martin Rohwer 72 74, Hennie Otto 73 73, James Mack 73 73, Combrinck Smit 73 73, Vaughn van Deventer 73 73, Kyle De Beer 73 73, Dayne Moore 72 74

147 - Kyle McClatchie 73 74, LB Boshoff 74 73, Ruan Korb 74 73, Casey Jarvis 75 72, Sentanio Minnie 77 70, Irvin Mazibuko 71 76, Graham van der Merwe 68 79

148 - Otto Van Buynder 80 68, Gavin Vorster 77 71, Ruan Groenewald 74 74, Stephen Ferreira 73 75, Jacques Blaauw 71 77

149 - Simon du Plooy 73 76, Conner Mackenzie 70 79, Werner Deyzel 76 73, Emile Steinmann 77 72, Luke Jerling 74 75, Kyle Barker 77 72, Brandon Meads 72 77

150 - Alex Haindl 75 75, Allister de Kock 78 72

151 - Keegan Mclachlan 74 77, James Pennington 82 69, Jacquin Hess 74 77, Neil Schietekat 76 75, Duane Keun 77 74, Jordan Duminy 75 76, Joe Long 75 76, Ruan Conradie 73 78, Matthew Spacey 71 80

152 - James Kamte 76 76, Michael Hollick 73 79, Merrick Bremner 78 74, Jake Redman 79 73, Hayden Griffiths 73 79

153 - Colin Nel 74 79, Ruan de Smidt 77 76, Trevor Mahoney 80 73, Brandon Pieters 78 75, Regan Steyn 79 74, Dean Nysschen 76 77, Travis Ladner 75 78, Cornel Muller 74 79, Dylan O'Leary 78 75

154 - Barend Knoetze 80 74, Stefan Wears-Taylor 77 77, Tristin Galant 77 77

155 - Arno Marais 82 73, Makhetha Mazibuko 78 77

156 - Adam Breen 81 75, William Weidner 78 78

157 - Brandon Gildenhuys 80 77, Haydn Porteous 78 79, Therion Nel 77 80

158 - Leon Vorster 77 81, Kayle Wykes 83 75, Ricky Hendler 78 80, Albert Venter 74 84, Christopher Long 76 82, Rudy Whitfield 81 77, Ronald Rugumayo 77 81

159 - Pride Sembo 83 76, Shaahid Mahmed 78 81, Drikus Joubert 80 79, Toto Thimba Jnr 78 81, Terry Smith 80 79

161 - Steven Le Roux 83 78

162 - Thabiso Ngcobo 76 86

163 - Ace Andile Adam 77 86, David Amm 77 86

166 - Gareth Akers 88 78

168 - Jacques Kok 81 87

171 - Christian Kriek 82 89

174 - Umar Davids 87 87

RTD - Sean Cronje RTD RTD RTD, Bradford Vaughan RTD RTD RTD