Garrick Higgo rebounded from his stuttering second round with a bogey-free five-under-par 66 on Saturday in the third round of the Tenerife Open on the European Tour.

He moved to 14-under-par for the tournament after 54 holes, and only a lip-out putt for birdie on the 18^th prevented him from getting within two strokes of the lead which is held jointly by Finn Kalle Samooja and Nicolai von Dellinghausen of Germany. They are a single stroke ahead of Dean Burmester on 16-under.

After his opening 63, Higgo was inconsistent in his second round of one-under 70, but all the consistency that has made him a two-time winner on the European Tour already was back on display as he made two birdies on the front nine. The he got the charge going, with three consecutive birdies after the turn from the 11^th to the 13^th. The putt that lipped out on 18 was a makeable one, too, from just a couple of feet, and, had it gone in, he would have been positioned with Spain’s Sebastian Garcia Rodriguez, Adrian Meronk of Poland and South Korean Yikeun Chang on 15-under and just two back.

As it is, in his current form, and with the course giving up plenty of low scores, there is a good chance he could come through the field and take the victory for what would be his second in two weeks.

Burmester’s round was a turbulent one on the back nine, as he made an eagle, three birdies and three bogeys on his was to his 54-hole total of 16-under-par, just one off the lead. It was the par-threes which gave him problems as he battled the breeze to get his distance control off the tee right. With six par-threes on the course, it’s something he will hope to improve on in the final round, or at least to play them as well as he did in the first two rounds, if he is to get his first European Tour title outside South Africa.

Behind those two, the next best South Africans are Justin Harding and Louis de Jager. Harding had a 66 in the third round, and De Jager a 69. They are on 12-under in a share of 15^th, and certainly not out of it.

Zander Lombard and Justin Walters are on 10-under in a share of 27^th. Walters had a superb 65 in the third round, and Lombard signed for a 68. Haydn Porteous made a level-par 71 in the third round and goes into the final day on four-under in a share of 71^st.