Tom McKibbin failed to build on a quick start as he fell out of contention at the SDC Championship in South Africa.
Kristian Krogh Johannessen and Matthew Baldwin were tied at the top of the leaderboard on 11-under par when the third round of the weather-disrupted event was suspended due to darkness on Saturday evening.
McKibbin burst back from an opening 76 with a blistering 65 and he got off to a fast start to round three as three successive birdies on 3, 4 and 5 saw him recover from an opening bogey but unfortunately that was as good as it got for the 20-year-old who dropped shots on eight and nine.
The Holywood native did add a birdie on 15 but closed with a bogey to remain on there-under and settle for a level-par 72.
It leaves McKibbin sharing 34th place but he is just three shots outside the top-10.
Norwegian Johannessen had held a three-shot lead at the halfway stage after finishing his second round with an eagle, five birdies and one bogey on Saturday morning, as Friday’s afternoon starters were forced to play catch-up following a weather-affected second day.
He stretched his advantage to five early in the third round after picking up a birdie at St. Francis Links’ second hole to reach 12 under par.
But the 28-year-old gave the shot back at the fourth, and even though he birdied the par-three seventh to get back to 12 under, a bogey on the 11th saw his lead reduced to a single stroke as the daylight began to disappear.
And with his playing partner Baldwin making four birdies in his first 13 holes before the hooter sounded at 18.35 local time, Johannessen had company at the summit overnight.
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