Kinhult retains lead going into final day of Alfred Dunhill Championship

Sweden’s Marcus Kinhult held onto his lead by the end of a difficult third round of the Alfred Dunhill Championship on Saturday, December 14.
He now chases a second DP World Tour title at Leopard Creek on Sunday, December 15. In temperatures far cooler than the previous days, Kinhult put together a solid 69 to head the field on 14 under par.
Kinhult heads into the final round two strokes clear of South Africa’s Ryan van Velzen, who signed for an incredible 65 to climb to 12 under par. And Darius van Driel from the Netherlands kept himself in contention on 11 under par with a 67.

Despite the cooler weather, it was a far from easy day for the majority of those near the top of the leaderboard.

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Charl Schwartzel saw his challenge falter with a 74 that was a tale of two nines, including a front nine of 42 and a back nine of 32. He ended the day on five under par overall.

And Dean Burmester fought hard for a 70 – including two double bogeys – to keep himself in the tournament at 10 under par.

It was a bit more of a grind today,” said Kinhult. “The good was very good, but I left myself in some tough positions as well. I think I did pretty well. I don’t know the stats, but it felt like it was definitely less greens in regulation and more pressure on my short game.”

Kinhult is hunting his first win since 2019 and believes Leopard Creek sets up perfectly for him to achieve this on Sunday.

“Sleeping on a lead is not easy, but I enjoy playing this golf course. I like what I see here, it suits my eye. There are some tough holes, but I do really like this course. If I can drive the ball well and put myself in good positions off the tee, that’s how you score well here. I’m looking forward to the challenge of the final round. It’s a tight leaderboard and I’m going to need a good round to win.”

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Van Velzen is relishing being in contention for a maiden DP World Tour title. “I’m hitting my driver so well at the moment, and I think I’ve gone two rounds without a bogey now. I’m staying away from flags I can’t go for. I’m playing very nicely,” he said.

And further behind, Burmester believes there’s still everything to play for on Sunday. “Being four shots behind around here is nothing. Anything can happen. Marcus is playing well and looks comfortable, but I can only control what I can do. I like winning tournaments from behind.”

Scores:
* 202: Marcus Kinhult 65 68 69
* 204: Ryan Van Velzen 70 69 65
* 205: Darius van Driel 67 71 67
* 206: Ángel Ayora 71 70 65, Romain Langasque 68 70 68, Joost Luiten 71 67 68, Matthew Southgate 70 67 69, Dean Burmester 69 67 70
* 207: John Parry 67 71 69, Casey Jarvis 65 72 70, Martin Couvra 71 66 70, Wenyi Ding 68 69 70, Dale Whitnell 69 67 71
* 208: Hamish Brown 75 66 67, Shaun Norris 67 70 71, Andy Sullivan 64 73 71
* 209: Yurav Premlall 73 66 70, Simon Forsström 73 65 71, Alex Fitzpatrick 65 72 72
* 210: Benjamin Follett-Smith 71 69 70, Oliver Lindell 71 69 70, Keenan Davidse 69 68 73
* 211: Lucas Bjerregaard 72 71 68, Tom McKibbin 69 73 69, Laurie Canter 71 70 70, Nathan Kimsey 67 72 72, Charl Schwartzel 71 66 74
* 212: Marcel Schneider 71 72 69, Ugo Coussaud 69 72 71, Erik van Rooyen 72 67 73, Jens Dantorp 70 69 73, Brandon Stone 67 72 73, Joel Moscatel 72 66 74, Andrea Pavan 67 69 76
* 213: Gavin Green 71 72 70, Pieter Moolman 70 72 71, Ryggs Johnston 68 73 72, Louis Albertse 73 68 72, Manuel Elvira 72 69 72, Herman Loubser 74 66 73, Christiaan Bezuidenhout 75 65 73, Frederic Lacroix 70 67 76
* 214: Richard Mansell 72 71 71, Jacques Blaauw 73 70 71, Jorge Campillo 71 72 71, Alexander Levy 74 68 72, Aldrich Potgieter 72 70 72, Scott Jamieson 71 71 72
* 215: Julien Guerrier 68 75 72, Nacho Elvira 68 71 76
* 216: Sean Crocker 72 71 73, Björn Åkesson 74 69 73, Matthew Baldwin 70 73 73, Kieron van Wyk 70 73 73, Rupert Kaminski 71 72 73, Jack Senior 71 71 74, Benjamin Hebert 73 69 74, Matti Schmid 68 73 75, Dylan Frittelli 72 68 76, Nikhil Rama 68 71 77, Adrián Otaegui 71 67 78
* 219: Pierre Pineau 74 69 76, Kristoffer Reitan 68 74 77, Ockie Strydom 71 70 78
* 220: Kyle McClatchie 72 70 78
* 222: Matthew Spacey 73 70 79.