Coetzee and Van Der Walt tied at the top

A birdie at the longest hole in European Tour history kept Charl Coetzee in a share of the lead as the third round of the Tshwane Open began.

With South Africa’s Dawie Van Der Walt paring the last four holes of his second round this morning after it had been delayed due to a storm on Friday evening, there was no change to the top of the leaderboard before the halfway stage.

When the third round started it was a different story, however, as Van Der Walt caught his compatriot with a birdie at the first.

Both players then picked up a shot at Copperleaf Golf & Country Estate’s monster 685 yard par five fourth to be tied on 13 under par.

With two home players leading the chances of a fifth South African winner in the six co-sanctioned European Tour and Sunshine Tour events looked likely, but American Peter Uihlein was only one back.

The former World Number One amateur picked up shots at both the outward par threes – the third and fifth – to reach 12 under.

First round leader Darren Fichardt, the recent Africa Open winner, and Chilean Mark Tullo were tied fourth on 11 under.

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Tullo, who lost his card by just €1,277 in 2011 but made a return to The European Tour via last season’s Challenge Tour, had consecutive birdies at the sixth and seventh to make it a three-way tie at the top.

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