Three holes that he’d rather forget. Hennie du Plessis gave up seven shots to par on the ninth, 12^th and 16^th on Saturday as he lurched to a three-over-par 73 in the third round of the Challenge Tour’s Open de Bretagne at Golf Bluegreen de Pléneuf Val André in Pleneuf, France.

He finds himself on four-under for the tournament, eight off the lead held by Jerome Lando Casanova and Julien Brun of France at 12-under after they carded four-under 66s in the second round. And while that gap is substantial, it’s not insurmountable if Du Plessis can stop those near catastrophic errors.

There was little sign of what was to come as he made four birdies in the opening seven holes, and a par on the par-three eighth seemed routine enough. But then… he made a seven on the par-four ninth and a six on the par-four 12^th. He seemed to have regained some equilibrium with a birdie on 14, but that momentum quickly evaporated when he made six on the par-four 16^th. And to add insult to injury, he bogeyed the 18^th.

Behind him, Jacques Blaauw made a one-under 69 to share 18^th on three-under, while Oliver Bekker was on two-under in 27^th.