Tom McKibbin bounced back with a four-under 68 to get back to within touching distance of the top 10, but Kristoffer Reitan will take a commanding five-shot lead into the final round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge after shooting a stunning 67 – despite a double bogey at the last – in the weather-affected third round in Sun City.
The Holywood man was inside the top five after the opening round, but an uncharacteristically sloppy second round of 74 saw him slip down the field.
Starting round three on the 10th, two early bridies signalled his intent but back-to-back bogeys on 16 and 17 effectively ended all chances of the moving day push required to get himself back into contention.
He bounced back to birdie four of his final nine holes, and the four-under-par round of 68 lifted him into a share of 16th place and to within one shot of the top 10 as he looks to finish 2025 on a high.
Reitan, who secured his maiden DP World Tour title at the Soudal Open in May this year, produced a brilliant burst of scoring around the turn on Saturday to build an eight-shot lead before play was suspended for just over two hours in the late afternoon due to thunder and lightning in the area.
When the action resumed at 17.45 local time, the Norwegian parred the 16th and 17th but dropped two shots to close his round after getting into trouble at the 18th.
Despite the disappointing finish, he sits at 17-under-par with 18 holes remaining and in pole position to claim a second victory of the calendar year and his first of the 2026 season.
Reitan began the day with a one-shot lead before following up a fine birdie at the second with an eagle on the ninth to sit four clear at the turn.
The 27-year-old kept his foot on the gas as he started the back nine, reeling off four birdies in five holes from the tenth to reach 19 under par before the hooter sounded shortly after his group had completed the 15th hole.
And he made a good up-and-down immediately after the resumption to keep his card clean but found the penalty area with his second shot at the 18th and dropped two shots there.
“I’m very disappointed with the finish on the 18th, but I guess a good double in the end,” Reitan said. “It’s just clear evidence that if you don’t hit it in the right spots, then you can get severely punished.
“But overall, good today. I think I got out of some tricky situations – I did that well. I think longevity wise, I think hitting it just that little bit better would be good. But overall, with the score today, I’m happy.
“I think I did a good job. I hit some good shots, but also when I was out of position, hit some good shots there as well to get me out of trouble.
“And my putter was rolling nicely as well. It’s kind of weird because the round just goes into a blur at this point. It’s a long time since we teed off, but yeah, a lot of good stuff today.
“I look forward to waking up in the morning and starting the day off fresh. It’s a cool challenge that I have ahead of me. I’m looking forward to that and hope to deal with it in a decent manner.”
Home favourite Jayden Schaper was Reitan’s nearest challenger on 12-under-par after making eight birdies and two bogeys in his 66.
Fellow South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout and England’s Dan Bradbury were two shots further back in a tie for third.
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