Jaco Ahlers made a bogey on the fourth hole on Friday, but he picked up five birdies after that, and, together with his birdie on the second, it meant he signed for a five-under-par 66 in the third round of the Asian Tour’s PIF Saudi International at Riyadh Golf Club.
Ahlers missed the fairway on four, missed the green, and was unable to get up and down from a greenside bunker, but, after that, he missed just two more greens for the rest of the round. That translated to some good putting stats as he had just 27 for his round.
At 13-under-par for the tournament, he heads into the final round in a share of eighth, just four strokes behind the lead. At the top of the leaderboard, Joaquin Niemann of Chile had a six-under 65 to move to 17-under-par and a one-stroke lead over Caleb Surratt and Peter Uihlein. There were three players on 15-under, including Tyrrell Hatton, Thomas Pieters on 14-under, and then Ahlers and two more on 13-under.
Branden Grace and Jayden Schaper made good moves up the leaderboard, with Grace’s eight-under-par 63 lifting him to 11-under and a share of 20th. Schaper was also on 11-under after he carded 31 on the homeward nine for his 64.
Dean Burmester had a three-under 68, and, at 10-under, was in a share of 25th. Louis Oosthuizen was unable to replicate his second-round scoring, and his one-over 72 dropped him into a share of 37th on eight-under-par.
Rupert Kaminski had a two-under 69 in the third round, and he was on six-under in a share of 50th.
