Naidoo, Canter chasing Investec South African Open glory
- Sunshine Tour
- Mar 1
- 3 min read
Dylan Naidoo walked onto Durban Country Club’s 18th green and threw his arms up as Durban’s golf fans stood on their feet cheering the young South African who shares the lead with England’s Laurie Canter in the Investec South African Open.
In near darkness and with the field having finally caught up the suspensions caused by the heavy rain earlier in the week, Naidoo parred the last for a 71 and a share of the lead with Canter on 14-under par. Canter signed for a solid 68 on a windy and tricky day at Durban Country Club.
“I felt like Tiger Woods out there. It was outrageous. I had crowds that were five deep following me. I’ve never experienced anything like this before. It was just like an overflow of emotion. I’m ready for everything the final round has in store,” said Naidoo, who is chasing a maiden DP World Tour victory after coming close with a runner-up finish in December’s AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.
Naidoo and Canter will go into Sunday’s final round one shot clear of England’s Marco Penge, while former Investec South African Open champion Branden Grace, Darren Fichardt and amateur Christiaan Maas are currently tied fourth on 12-under.
But Saturday’s wind was a true showcase of the changes made to this venerable golf course and where its real strengths lie.
“It was a Test match out there. It was really difficult with the wind swirling and it really was a case of patience and grinding,” said Naidoo.
Canter felt the same as he opened with a double bogey and then had to dig deep to get his challenge back on track.
“The golf course was a different animal in the wind. It was so much fun to play and such a great test. I like seeing the course with wind because I think that’s how it’s meant to play,” said Canter, who is looking for a double after winning the 2010 South African Amateur.
And just two shots back, Grace has a second Investec South African Open in his sights.
“It was just so amazing to see the crowds out there. I love this place and I’m looking forward to the final round,” he said.
Maas has easily wrapped up the Freddie Tait Cup for leading amateur as he also heads into the final round just two shots off the leaders.
Scores
202 - Laurie Canter 69 65 68, Dylan Naidoo 70 61 71
203 - Marco Penge 68 67 68
204 - Christiaan Maas 70 64 70, Branden Grace 65 68 71, Darren Fichardt 63 70 71
205 - Dale Whitnell 72 63 70, Andrea Pavan 67 66 72
206 - Scott Jamieson 72 66 68, Shaun Norris 66 64 76
207 - Richard Mansell 71 67 69, Joost Luiten 67 70 70, Ugo Coussaud 70 68 69, Fredrik From 65 67 75, Sam Bairstow 65 66 76
208 - Jacques Blaauw 69 69 70, Jaco Ahlers 70 67 71, Nathan Kimsey 70 69 69, Haotong Li 66 69 73, Jeong Weon Ko 68 71 69, Jayden Schaper 66 69 73, Brandon Stone 68 67 73, Rhys West 70 64 74, Todd Clements 66 66 76
209 - Kieran Vincent 70 66 73, Richie Ramsay 66 70 73, Thomas Aiken 68 68 73, Ivan Cantero 68 67 74, John Parry 66 69 74, Kazuma Kobori 67 73 69, Gavin Green 70 70 69, Alejandro Del Rey 74 66 69
210 - Keith Horne 65 72 73, JC Ritchie 69 69 72, Nikhil Rama 68 67 75, Jamie Donaldson 68 72 70
211 - Jordan Gumberg 68 70 73, Dean Burmester 69 67 75, Troy Merritt 69 67 75, Lyle Rowe 71 68 72, Jacques Kruyswijk 71 68 72, Yurav Premlall 72 68 71, Martin Vorster 74 66 71, Andy Sullivan 71 69 71, Aaron Cockerill 69 71 71
212 - Charl Schwartzel 72 65 75, David Ravetto 69 69 74, Jorge Campillo 69 70 73, Manuel Elvira 71 68 73, Marcel Siem 65 70 77, George Coetzee 71 69 72, Joel Girrbach 68 65 79, Rupert Kaminski 74 66 72
213 - Justin Harding 67 69 77, Michael Hollick 73 66 74, Rafa Cabrera Bello 68 67 78, Richard Sterne 68 72 73
214 - MJ Viljoen 69 67 78, Shubhankar Sharma 66 72 76, Romain Langasque 69 71 74, Matthew Baldwin 71 69 74
215 - Luke Jerling 69 71 75
216 - Dylan Frittelli 69 69 78, Jean Hugo 70 69 77
217 - Maximilian Steinlechner 67 72 78, Callum Tarren 71 69 77
218 - Freddy Schott 70 70 78
219 - Keelan van Wyk 69 71 79, Chris Paisley 74 66 79
RTD - Sean Crocker 72 64 RTD
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