Logjam at the Top of Tshwane Open


Sunday at the Tshwane Open is going to be a shootout as six players are tied for the lead in the European Tour event underway at Pretoria Golf Club in South Africa.

The half-dozen players atop the leaderboard at 9-under 201 include an Englishman, David Horsey, a young Spaniard, Adrian Otaegui, a Scotsman, Craig Lee, and three South Africans - George Coetzee, Trevor Fisher Jr., and Wallie Coetsee.

Following a scintillating 8-under 62 on Friday that gave him a two-stroke lead at the halfway point of the tournament, Otaegui went 10 strokes higher Saturday. The 22-year-old was cruising along with two birdies and a bogey through eight holes but then the wheels fell off as he posted four bogeys and just one birdie the rest of the way.

"I played pretty well until the ninth," Otaegui told the European Tour's website. "I'm trying to keep the rhythm for better tee shots tomorrow. I played okay and I'm pretty confident for tomorrow. I think there were good things to learn from today and tomorrow is another chance. I don't want to change anything and we'll see what happens. We just have to keep the ball in play and stay smart."

Horsey and Fisher each carded 69s, while Coetzee and Coetsee had 68s and Lee a 66, which matched Saturday's low round. "I'm delighted," said Lee, who is seeking his first victory. "It's one of those courses where you can go quite low as guys have done, but it doesn't take much to be offline and then you really get punished around here.

"To knock it around in 4-under today was a great score. I'm still making a couple of silly mistakes, but all in all I'm delighted with my game; it's getting better and better and we're almost in a position where I'm completely happy with it."

Lurking one stroke behind are two South Africans, Ookie Strydom and Erik Van Rooven, who each shot 67s, while another stroke back are Italy's Edoardo Molinari (70), France's Raphael Jacquelin (68) and Morten Orum Madsen (68). Madsen's 63 on Thursday gave the Dane the 18-hole lead.

Sharing 12th at 204 are South Africans Dean Burmester, Justin Walters and Taart van der Walt, along with Sweden's Mikael Lundberg. van der Walt matched Lee's 66.

The 29-year-old Horsey, a three-time winner on the European Tour, knows anything can happen Sunday and feels his chances are as good as the other contenders. "All things considered, it was a decent score and I'm reasonably pleased with how I am playing. It's anyone's tomorrow, so more of the same for me. I'll try to get it a bit closer and hole some putts."

For all the scores, visit http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2015/tournamentid=2015018/leaderboard/index.html?showLeaderboard=Y.