Scott Jamieson shares lead in his bid to land a second South African success

Scott Jamieson shares the lead heading into the final round of the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek as the Florida-based Scot bids to land a second DP World Tour triumph on South African soil.

Scott Jamieson in action during the third round of the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek Country Club in Malelane, South Africa. Picture: Warren Little/Getty Images.

The 39-year-old, who landed his breakthrough on the circuit in the Nelson Mandela Championship a decade ago, started the day with a three-shot lead but, at the end of the penultimate circuit, he’d been joined at the top of the leaderboard by Ockie Strydom.

That was mainly down to Strydom equalling Jamieson’s day-old course record with a nine-under-par 63 that included an eagle and eight birdies, but, thanks to a burst of three straight birdies on the back nine, Jamieson matched his 15-under total with a gutsy 70.

“A solid day,” said the Glaswegian, who’d mixed two birdies with three bogeys on the front nine at the stunning Malelane venue. “As expected, the course was a little bit tougher today, green speeds were up a little bit on yesterday.

“I didn’t get off to the best of starts, hitting poor shots on four and five that kind of killed the momentum but, with seven and eight being tough holes, one-over on the front nine wasn’t really a disaster.

“I knew there were going to be chances on the back nine and I managed to make three birdies in a row, so two under was a good day.”

New PGA Tour card holder Dean Burmester (68) is among three players lurking on 13-under, with Branden Grace, who eagled the last, a shot further back along with LIV Golf player Adrian Otaegui.

“It’s why we play golf,” said Jamieson, who has an impressive record in this event with three top-five finishes, of being in the mix again with 18 holes to go. “There’s some good names up there, so it’s going to be an exciting day.”

The laid-back Scot smiled when he was asked about how calm he’d looked in the heat of the battle. “The tournament begins on the back nine tomorrow,” he pointed out. “We are all just jockeying for position until then and at that point your gameplan can change and hopefully I’ll look just as calm tomorrow.

“I was really disciplined. The shots on four and five were the only ones I wasn’t happy with. The ball was above my feet and I couldn’t really feel the wind coming off the left on four then five was just a bad swing. But I stuck to my gameplan and I got my reward with three birdies in a row.”

Strydom, who has 19 runner-up finishes to his name, set the course record at Blair Atholl during last week’s and is now challenging again this week for a maiden DP World Tour title.

“This is a trophy you want, and to win here at Leopard Creek would be so special,” he admitted. “The course is more beautiful than I’ve ever seen it. I’m staying in a house on the golf course. It’s so calm, and that always makes me play my best golf.”

Elsewhere, Gabrielle Macdonald, with a one-under 70 on the North Course, started promisingly in the LET Qualifying School pre-qualifier at La Manga, where Louise Duncan struggled to a 10-over 83 on the South.