Louis Albertse kept his composure on a day when he admitted he wasn’t at his best and still managed to claim a three-stroke lead heading into Sunday’s final round of the Waterfall City Tournament of Champions.

Albertse signed for a 68 on the composite nine-hole layout at Royal Johannesburg’s East Course to lead the field on 15 under par, and also lead the chase for the R1 million in prize money for first place this weekend.

His nearest challengers are Welshman Rhys Enoch and Sunshine Ladies Tour campaigner Casandra Alexander on 12 under par following their respective rounds of 66 and 73.

Alexander started the round with a two-stroke lead following her impressive 61 on Friday. But she couldn’t find that same momentum on Saturday, which opened the door for Albertse.

Yet he also struggled early on with two bogeys in his opening four holes. It was a key stretch of three birdies in five holes thereafter that gave him the lead. There was another bogey and two birdies on the back nine, but it was the eagle on the par-five 18th that finally gave him some breathing room at the top of the leaderboard.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better score to be honest. I didn’t play my best. I wasn’t in the right positions and just had to fight, but I’m really pleased to get away with a score like this,” said Albertse.

With a past Sunshine Tour season that saw him finish as one of the most consistent professionals on the Tour with a victory and nine top-10s, Albertse clearly had the experience to still carve out a lead despite not having his best game with him.

“It’s very tough and I feel like that’s a big part of this game, just like chipping and putting and anything else. It’s really about trying to stay in the moment. I was two over par at one stage and if you start thinking too far ahead it can get even worse, so I just tried to focus on the next shot.”

GolfRSA’s Ivan Verster is the leading amateur going into the final round on nine under par. – Michael Vlismas.

SCORES:

201 - Louis Albertse 65 68 68

204 - Rhys Enoch 72 66 66, Casandra Alexander 70 61 73

205 - Kyle Barker 72 66 67, Rupert Kaminski 70 67 68

206 - Ryan Van Velzen 70 68 68, Gerhard Pepler 67 70 69

207 - Nikhil Rama 70 69 68, Ivan Verster 67 71 69

209 - Tvesa Malik 69 72 68, Altin van der Merwe 72 69 68, Deon Germishuys 69 69 71

210 - Jonathan Broomhead 74 70 66, Neil Schietekat 71 70 69, Jaco Ahlers 69 71 70

211 - Darren Fichardt 71 68 72, CJ du Plessis 72 67 72, Hennie Otto 68 70 73

212 - Pieter Moolman 71 70 71

213 - Peter Karmis 73 70 70, Jbe' Kruger 74 69 70

214 - Malcolm Mitchell 74 71 69, Robin Williams 73 71 70, Bjorn Akesson 68 75 71, Martin Rohwer 71 71 72, Cara Gorlei 74 67 73, Heinrich Bruiners 72 68 74

216 - Gabrielle Venter 72 68 76

217 - Kylie Henry 67 76 74

218 - Luca Filippi 73 72 73

219 - Robson Chinhoi 67 72 80

223 - Leon Vorster 80 73 70, Lejan Lewthwaite 77 74 72

236 - Kesha Louw 85 78 73