The 26-year-old Tshwane golfer protected his overnight lead at Centurion Country Club with a flawless four-under-par 68 and he will start the final round at 12 under with a two shot advantage over seasoned professional Coert Groenewald and rookie Tristen Strydom.

However, that’s precisely where Waschefort’s trouble could start.

Groenewald has been one of the most consistent campaigners over the 18 events in the Race to Q-School Series, and he is a serious contender for the top prize in the Race to Sunshine Tour Q-School Order of Merit.

The Roodepoort golfer banked his seventh IGT Challenge Tour title in the Race to Q-School #16 at State Mines Golf Club a fortnight ago and the victory vaulted the 28-year-old to fourth in the rankings.

With 54,443.25 points in hand, a win or even a runner-up finish at Centurion Country Club would move Groenewald into the top spot.

For that to happen, though, Groenewald would need second-placed Matthew Spacey or Dean O’Riley, ranked third, to both finish outside the top three.

Spacey produced rounds of 68 and 67 to tie for fourth alongside Thriston Lawrence, Juan Swart and amateur Ruan Korb and the Dainfern pro will start the last 18 holes just three off the pace

O’Riley, who won the first event in the Race to Q-School series, has a bit more work to do if he hopes to lift Damian Naicker out of the number one spot. The Benoni player carded rounds of 72 and 68 and he is currently in the bus at four under.

The top five players in the final Order of Merit after Wednesday’s final round will receive free passage to the Final Stage of the Sunshine Tour’s Qualifying School.

That raises the stakes significantly, especially for Waschefort, who is eighth in the rankings with 45,328.02 points. The 15,000 points for a win would certainly push him into the top five, but Strydom is less than 1,500 points behind Waschefort and an ominous presence in his rear-view mirror.

“I definitely don’t want to be thinking about the rankings, but it is in the back of my mind,” said the tournament leader. “Coert and Tristen are both extremely gritty competitors and they don’t back off from the fight, so I expect to have a battle on my hands.

“My focus in the first two rounds has been to keep my head down and to hit every shot as good as possible. I haven’t gotten ahead of myself and I believe that has kept me going. If I can continue to do that tomorrow, I have every chance of making it.”

Another dark horse to watch is rookie Estiaan Conradie.

A three-time winner in his first season on the IGT Challenge Tour last year, the Wingate Park teenager sits at 10th in the Order of Merit with 43,963.56 points. He fired seven birdies and an eagle on day two to record the low round of the day – a seven-under-par 65 – that moved him to four under.

First Round Scores

All competitors RSA unless otherwise specified and amateurs indicated as AMA

132 - Jonathan Waschefort 64 68

134 - Coert Groenewald 65 69, Tristen Strydom 68 66

135 - Thriston Lawrence 65 70, Ruan Korb AMA 67 68, Juan Swart 66 69, Matthew Spacey 68 67

136 - Armand van Dyk AMA 66 70, Gregg Blainey (ENG) 70 66, Etienne J V Rensburg AMA 69 67

137 - Johan van der Wath 69 68, Sam Botham (ENG) 67 70, Andrew Carlsson AMA 69 68, Altaaf Bux 70 67, Chris Cannon (ENG) 71 66

138 - Markus Sayra (SWE) 70 68, NJ Arnoldi 68 70, Terence Boardman 70 68, David Ashley (ENG) 70 68

139 - Christian Larsson (SWE) 69 70, Ruan Conradie 70 69, Francois Coetzee 68 71

140 - Matt Bright 70 70, Phillip Kruse AMA 69 71, Paul Boshoff 71 69, Dean O'Riley 72 68, Estiaan Conradie 75 65

141 - John McClean (NIR) 70 71, Dougie Meijer 70 71, Kyle Lucas 70 71, Stefan Labuschagne AMA 71 70, Gerard du Plooy 69 72, Fanie Wolmarans AMA 70 71, Sean Bradley 67 74

142 - Ryan Clarke 73 69, Andi Dill 69 73

143 - Hendrikus Stoop AMA 70 73, Stephan de Beer 73 70, John Bele 70 73, Bryce Myburgh 69 74

144 - Tom Watson AMA 70 74, Andre Pistorius 73 71

145 - Leon Vorster AMA 73 72, Marais Visagie 74 71, Otto van Greunen 74 71

146 - Thabang Simon 72 74, Stephan Erasmus AMA 75 71, Dylan O'Leary 68 78

147 - Pieter Moolman 72 75, Hayden Millar AMA 69 78, Vico Kuhn 72 75, Martinus Barnard 69 78, Dwayne Coetzee 76 71, Eric Nel AMA 72 75

148 - Shalan Govender 76 72, Richard Tsai AMA 75 73, Reinard Vermeulen AMA 74 74, Patric Dowling AMA 76 72, Duan Nagel AMA 79 69, Matt Wollmann (ZIM) 73 75

149 - Niel Theron AMA (NAM) 77 72, Christof Appel 79 70, Cameron Nesmith AMA 77 72, Nicol Kromhout AMA 73 76, WM Coetzee AMA 73 76, Marcus Smal AMA 75 74

Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of the IGT Challenge Tour.