Branden Grace is on line for his first European Tour triumph as he went into the final round of the Joburg Open with a three-shot lead at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club on Sunday.

Having completed his third round with a seven-under-par 65 on Sunday morning, birdieing five of the last six holes, Grace leapt to 17-under-par, with his nearest challengers being Englishman Richard Finch and fellow South African George Coetzee on 14-under.

The 23-year-old Grace understandably feels on top of his game after rounds of 67 and 65 on the East Course, sandwiching a 66 on the West Course.

“I’m hitting the ball well and I’m putting really nicely, which is a bonus for me at this stage. I’m going to stick to my game-plan and just keep doing what I’ve been doing. I’m going to try to do the same thing I’ve been doing the whole week.

“You just need to give yourself birdie opportunities. I feel like I’m playing well and the putting is there, so it’s nice to give yourself chances with the knowledge that you’re going to make some,” Grace said after his third round.

Grace had to complete the 16th, 17th and 18th holes on Sunday morning and he birdied the par-four and the par-five to cement his position atop the leaderboard.

“It was a quick finish, nice and fresh and early this morning, it worked out today. I would take that start any day. I’m feeling good, happy to be here and I’m playing well at the moment, so I’ll just take it from here,” he said.

There should not be any weather interruptions on the final day, but Grace has been philosophical about all the delays and twice having to complete rounds on the next day.

“I don’t think there is anything you can do about it. Nature calls and you just have to keep your head down and keep going,” he said.

Grace’s cousin, Michiel Bothma, was another to make the most of his early return to the course on Sunday, chipping in on the 18th hole to make eagle and jump to 13-under-par.

It had been an anxious start to the day for Bothma, who came off the course on the third evening with an eight-foot putt for par on the 17th hole waiting for him.

“I drained it this morning and we said that if we could finish par-eagle it would be a fantastic start to the day, and it happened, what we were hoping for the whole of last night!”

The 38-year-old will be hoping to add to his five Sunshine Tour titles and will be praying his putter comes to the party far more than it did in the third round.

“I made a quick start yesterday, getting to 11-under, but then I parred everything and lipped so many putts. I just kept putting a little lag on the putts and when we had the line, then we couldn’t get the pace right,” Bothma said.

Canada’s Andrew Parr has no previous case history of excelling on the European Tour, so his third round of eight-under-par 64 on Saturday that catapulted him into the clubhouse lead of the Joburg Open was a bolt from the blue.

However the final round proceeds, the 28-year-old is almost guaranteed to earn the biggest paycheque of his career after his inspired round that was highlighted by a run of six birdies in eight holes around the turn.

Parr has played most of his golf in Canada, but has appeared sporadically on the Nationwide Tour in the United States. Playing in the Joburg Open is the University of Texas graduate’s first foray into the European Tour.

The 6’4” Parr averages in the region of 300 metres off the tee so he is certainly in the big-hitter’s club. Whether he makes it into the winner’s circle is another story, but his confidence will be sky-high after not making a bogey in 31 holes.

Parr completed his second round in the morning and just scraped into the rest of the tournament by birdieing the 18th hole on the West Course. That left him in a tie for 48th place … but an incredible third round has put him right in contention on 12-under-par alongside Dawie van der Walt, a friend of his since they have both been based in Texas.

Only three men are in front of him – George Coetzee, on -14, and co-leaders Richard Finch and Branden Grace on 15-under.

For Dawie van der Walt, it’s a case of hoping the golfers ahead of him on the leaderboard don’t slip up on Sunday morning when they complete their third rounds in the Joburg Open at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club.

Van der Walt is the joint clubhouse-leader with Canadian Andrew Parr after his brilliant five-under-par 67 lifted him to 12-under-par overall. Late showers then brought an early end to a day which began with more than half of the field finishing their second rounds and ended with leaders Branden Grace and Richard Finch, tied on 15-under, and third-placed George Coetzee (-14) yet to complete their third rounds.

But Van der Walt, citing his preference for attacking from behind, said he would be happy if that trio remain ahead of him going into the final round.

“I don’t want to be in the last group with all the people watching … maybe third from last will be great! I’ll be firing at the pins regardless. My golf seems to get better if I have to come from behind. I like to be aggressive, maybe I’m too aggressive,” Van der Walt said.

Although the 28-year-old lacks a Sunshine Tour win on his resume’, he has shown his ability to come from behind before, most notably when he shot a nine-under-par 63 to force a playoff in the BMG Classic at Glendower Golf Club last October. The Paarl-based golfer ultimately lost to James Kamte, but it remains the best result of his career.

The sturdy Van der Walt expects the final round to be as tough a challenge as the third round on the East Course, especially in terms of the pin-placements.

“I play here a lot and I don’t know how they can make the course much tougher, they had all the hard flags out there today.

“The flag at 10 was in a place I’ve never seen before, on a slope. You couldn’t miss anywhere left and anywhere past the pin left you with a scary putt. The fourth and 15th holes are also in the hardest places.

“It’s hard to hit it close, you take a big chance if you try. If you short-side yourself, it’s very difficult to make par,” Van der Walt said.

Richard Finch’s first thought as his tee-shot headed straight for the cup on the par-three 12th hole on the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington East Course was “Oh no!”

Finch’s hole-in-one helped him into a share of the lead after the second round of the Joburg Open, but his initial feeling was that he had achieved the “perfect fluke” on the wrong day.

“On 12 I looked at the back of the tee and read the board which said there was a million rand available for a hole-in-one in the final round. As my shot landed I turned around and said ‘Oh no!’ because I had hit it on the perfect line,” Finch said.

The ball went slightly downhill before lodging in the hole, so Finch only knew he had sunk his tee shot by the reaction of the spectators around the green.

“Some of [playing partner] Darren Fichardt’s family and friends were at the green and they started cheering, so it was clear it had gone in,” Finch said.

Finch’s six-iron from 188 metres was the highlight of a top-class round of six-under-par 66 on the tough East Course that saw the Englishman soar to 11-under-par overall and a share of the lead with countryman Robert Rock and South Africa’s George Coetzee.

“Starting today at five-under-par was interesting – a few birdies and you’re right up there amongst the lead, but a couple of bogeys and you miss the cut. But I’m delighted with today, I thought some of the pins were really tucked away, so I just tried to be sensible and get it on to the green to give myself a chance. I managed to roll a few in, which was good,” the 34-year-old said.

While there may not be any formal award for Finch’s second-round hole-in-one, his other ace in South Africa did net him a most useful prize.

“I made one at Humewood a few years ago during the SA Open. It was sponsored by South African Airways, so I won a million air miles, which was nice.”

One imagines Finch didn’t protest too much either when he made a hole-in-one at the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles in 2010 and won a bottle of Blue!

The European Tour regular will be after the big prize in Johannesburg, however, – a third title, a one-year exemption, 22 points for the world rankings and the winner’s cheque of R1.8 million.