Aldrich Potgieter followed his second-round 59 with a two-over-par 73 on Saturday to slip 11 places down the leaderboard to 12th after 54 holes in the Korn Ferry Tour’s Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard at Country Club de Bogota in Bogota, Colombia.
Almost inevitably after such a good round – the first round leader Cristobal Del Solar followed his 57 with a 69 and then a 75 – players battle to recapture lightning in a bottle as they seek two in a row. And when the course is tougher than the one on which the low one was achieved, things can go awry.
Potgieter started quietly and confidently enough with just a single birdie on his front nine. But three bogeys were interspersed with just two birdies on his way home before he made a double-bogey on the closing par-five 18th.
Up ahead of him, Thomas Walsh of the United States carded an eight-under 63 to move to 20-under-par. That was six strokes clear of Potgieter, and three clear of fellow-Americans Kevin Velo and Trevor cone who shared second on 17-under.
It’s not an insurmountable gap for the South African. But it will take a great final round to chase down the lead.
