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Mbabane - Sunshine Tour veteran Titch Moore carded a flawless bogey-free, eight-under-par 64 in round three of the Investec Royal Swazi Open to open up a six point lead over Brazilian Adilson Da Silva.
Moore’s eight-under-par round yielded an incredible 16 modified stableford points, and it was a round that could have been even lower.
“Yeah it was beautiful out there. Obviously the weather today was peachy and it’s the kind of course you’ve got to make birdies on. I was really frustrated in the first few holes, as I hit it really close and missed a lot of putts,” he said.
The modified stableford format suites an aggressive game plan, and Moore was able to close out a round that included five birdies in-a-row around the turn with two birdies at the 16th and 17th holes.
“It’s a format where you’ve got to just keep hanging in there and I think I made five in-a-row around the turn and then made another two coming home. So eight birdies for the day and not a bogey in sight, so it was solid,” he explained.
“Obviously if you make an eagle it boosts you straight up the board and I’ve made three this week. I didn’t make any today but as I say I made enough birdies out there and it was good,” he added.
Eyeing his first win since the 2014 Sun Boardwalk Golf Challenge, Moore will be hoping to go into next week’s AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open with a 10th title to his name.
“Obviously next week in Mauritius is a big one. It’s a great week and obviously being tri-sanctioned, I’ve been there before, and to get there with a win under the belt would be great. There is still another day to go, but I’m in a good position so hopefully I can pull it off,” he said.
Flying under the radar, Da Silva will be Moore’s closest competitor in the Saturday finish, and Da Silva says he’s thoroughly enjoying the format at Royal Swazi Spa Country Club.
“It’s fun. I think sometimes you forget about your gross score and you just go after the points. I think you just have to have patience and not run after it because you know there are a lot of birdie chances out there. You just have to be patient and enjoy it,” he said.
Da Silva is confident heading into tomorrow and he believes he’s building onto something big, after working with famed visual skills coach Doctor Sherylle Calder.
“I was hitting the ball really well, and I was putting quite nicely too. It feels like I’m building up to something. You know I’ve been working with Sherylle from EyeGym and I think we’re slowly getting somewhere. I have been hitting the ball well for quite a while so I think the putting has been the missing part. I felt like I holed one or two that I have been missing,” he explained.
Both Moore and Da Silva fancy their chances in the exciting format, yet both golfers are aware of the threat coming from the bunched leaderboard.
Da Silva said, “Anyone can still come along and there are so many guys out there that are bunched up. I think I’ll need 10 or 12 points tomorrow, but I’m feeling good and enjoying it.“
Moore added, “They’ve got to do the chasing and I just have to keep the bogeys off the card and make a few birdies. As you say, a guy can go around here and make 20 points so it’s anybody’s game - anybody can still win it.”
Overnight leader Ruan de Smidt sits alongside Daniel Greene on 32 points in a share of third place, while Rourke van der Spuy and Jared Harvey share fifth place on 29 points.
Scores:
42 - Titch Moore (RSA) 10 16 16
36 - Adilson Da Silva (BRA) 7 14 15
32 - Daniel Greene (RSA) 16 10 6, Ruan de Smidt
(RSA) 13 14 5
29 - Rourke van der Spuy (RSA) 4 10 15, Jared Harvey
(RSA) 9 9 11
28 - Jonathan Agren (SWE) 10 9 9, Andre de Decker
(RSA) 11 8 9, Vaughn Groenewald (RSA) 10 12 6
26 - Wallie Coetsee (RSA) 10 8 8
24 - Andrew Curlewis (RSA) 11 0 13, Tyrone Mordt
(RSA) 4 14 6, Doug McGuigan (SCO) 15 7 2
23 - Justin Harding (RSA) 11 4 8
22 - Oliver Bekker (RSA) 8 2 12, Louis de Jager
(RSA) 9 2 11, Merrick Bremner (RSA) 2 9 11, Erik van Rooyen
(RSA) 5 12 5
21 - Ockie Strydom (RSA) 9 4 8, Tyrone Ferreira
(RSA) 9 4 8, Jaco Prinsloo (RSA) 9 5 7, Chris Swanepoel
(RSA) 12 3 6, Jacques Kruyswijk (RSA) 4 14 3,Neil Schietekat
(RSA) 16 5 0
20 - CJ du Plessis (RSA) 3 7 10, Le Roux Ferreira
(RSA) 10 7 3
19 - Madalitso Muthiya (ZAM) 2 13 4, Jaco Ahlers
(RSA) 13 4 2, Anthony Michael (RSA) 9 7 3
18 - Christiaan Basson (RSA) 8 6 4
17 - Etienne Bond (RSA) 5 4 8
16 - Mark Williams (ZIM) 4 5 7, Bradford Vaughan
(RSA) 7 3 6, Jacques Blaauw (RSA) 1 10 5, Mark Murless
(RSA) 4 7 5, Omar Sandys (RSA) 14 -2 4, Rhys West
(RSA) 10 5 1,Divan van den Heever (RSA) 16 -1 1
15 - Keith Horne (RSA) 3 7 5, Nic Henning
(RSA) 10 6 -1
14 - Derick Petersen (RSA) 10 0 4, PH McIntyre
(RSA) 3 7 4, Teaghan Gauche (RSA) 11 1 2
13 - Divan Gerber (RSA) 8 1 4, Michiel Bothma
(RSA) 1 8 4
11 - Lyle Rowe (RSA) 4 5 2
10 - Grant Veenstra (RSA) 7 4 -1, Jean-Paul Strydom
(RSA) 4 7 -1
8 - Andrew Georgiou (CYP) 6 6 -4
6 - Ryan Tipping (RSA) 5 5 -4, Thabang Simon
(RSA) 3 8 -5
7 - Jack Harrison (ENG) 2 5, Tyron McComb (RSA) 3 4
6 - JC Ritchie (RSA) 3 3, Danie van Tonder (RSA) 7 -1, Theunis Spangenberg (RSA) -1 7, Thanda Mavundla (RSA) 3 3
5 - Jeff Hopkins (IRL) 5 0, Colin Nel (RSA) 3 2
4 - Anton Haig (RSA) 2 2, Alex Haindl (RSA) -2 6, Bryce Easton (RSA) 7 -3, Warrick Druian (RSA) 0 4
3 - James Kamte (RSA) 1 2
2 - Michael Hollick (RSA) 8 -6
0 - Greg Bentley (ZIM) 8 -8
-1 - Daniel Hammond (RSA) 4 -5
-3 - Heinrich Bruiners (RSA) -3 0
-7 - Morne Buys (RSA) -2 -5
