Conor Purcell saw the positives despite a frustrating third round but was pleased to shoot under par as he remained inside the top seven at the Dimension Data Pro-Am.
Purcell carded a one-under 71 to move to ten-under, eight shots behind Oliver Bekker and just three shots adrift of second place.
The Portmarnock man got off to the ideal start on the Outeniqua course with an opening birdie but endured a mixed run before the turn with an eagle on 8 sandwiched between three bogeys. Nothing much happened for him on the back nine either with a birdie on 12 and eight pars.
“It was a weird one, it’s tricky going out on that course knowing it’s been playing the easiest all week,” said Purcell. “It’s the one that I hadn’t seen during my practice so just trying to find my feet out there early on and play great for the most part and made a nice eagle on the eighth which turned things around.
“I played average golf after that, didn’t really take many chances but breaking par on a day you haven’t played well is always OK.”
At eight back, Purcell will need to shoot something in the mid to low 60s and get help from players above him, he will play the Montagu on Sunday where he shot a 2nd round 66.
“More of the same, see what the weather brings, it was very hot today and made it difficult to concentrate, I like the layout of the Montagu and played well on it so looking forward to it.
“Mentally I’m a little sharper, can concentrate better and stay in each hole and each shot and not think too far ahead which has stood me in good stead for the moment.”
Ruaidhri McGee bounced back from a poor second round with a three-under 70 around the Links to move into the top-20 on eight-under-par.
The Derry native took a while to get going with one bogey and eight pars on the front nine before picking up three shots in two holes with a hole out eagle on the par-4 10th and a birdie 2 on the 11th.
A birdie on the 16th capped a good response to Friday’s 73.
Scoring HERE
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