The Nedbank Golf Challenge is poised for an intense weekend of action with a leaderboard that is as hot as the midday African sun and with American Max Homa and Frenchman Matthieu Pavon locked in a share of the lead at Sun City.
On a day when the 66-man field was given the option to wear shorts in the stifling heat, Homa signed for a 68 and Pavon added a 66 to see them share the lead on 10 under par. They are one stroke clear of England’s Dan Bradbury, who bogeyed the last to slip out of the lead.
European Ryder Cup star Nicolai Højgaard is just two shots back while Hennie du Plessis leads the South African challenge on seven under par.
But with defending champion Tommy Fleetwood and double Major champion Justin Thomas only four back, there is still plenty to unfold on the fairways of the Gary Player Country Club over the next 36 holes.
For Homa, it was another pleasant surprise to be at the top of this leaderboard.
“I’m very pleased and a little surprised. The body has felt better as the week’s gone on. I woke up today and felt like a golfer again. If you’re going to fly 20-odd hours over here you might as well play some good golf, so it’s nice that I’m doing that,” said the world number eight.
Pavon has been feeling equally comfortable.
“It’s been two solid days. Everything is clear in my mind and I just show up and do my best. I’m more focused on me than what anybody else is doing. I’ll grind as much as possible and then we see what happens on Sunday.”
But for both, the key has been avoiding the trouble lurking around these 18 holes.
“I played really smart and made it pretty stress-free. You have to guess the wind right a lot. It’s incredibly confusing. So I feel like patience is key. I feel like we’ve done a good job in knowing where to leave the second shots and where not to be.
“It’s a very demanding golf course. You’re going to be out of position and you’re going to have some tricky shots, so I try not to overpower it. I’ll just play conservatively and rely on the putter.”
It was a similar theme for Pavon.
“I haven’t put myself in any trouble out there. It’s tight around the flags here so you need to be conscious about where you can miss.”
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About the DP World Tour
The DP World Tour is the main men’s professional golf Tour of the European Tour group, with a global schedule featuring a minimum of 39 tournaments in 26 different countries across the 2023 season.
Formerly known as the European Tour, which was established in 1972, the 2023 DP World Tour schedule includes five Rolex Series events, along with four Major Championships, one World Golf Championship event, as well as tournaments staged around the world with a minimum prize of $2million for all events solely sanctioned by the DP World Tour.
The season concludes with the final Rolex Series event, the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, where the winner of the Tour’s season-long competition, the Race to Dubai Rankings in partnership with Rolex, will be crowned.
DP World, the leading provider of global smart end-to-end supply chain and logistics solutions, is the title partner of the DP World Tour, which is administered by the European Tour group.
About the European Tour Group
The European Tour group is the overarching corporate brand which administers four competition brands: the DP World Tour, the Challenge Tour, the Legends Tour and, along with the PGA of America, is the Managing Partner of golf’s greatest team contest, the Ryder Cup.
Established in 1972, the European Tour group is committed to ‘Driving Golf Further’ through our guiding principles of being innovative, inclusive and global.
Innovative: We are driving innovation in golf through the creation of award-winning content, pioneering tournament formats and the use of the latest technology and inventive fan engagement. We are committed to attracting new audiences whilst respecting the tradition of our sport.
Inclusive: We are committed to include all who share a love for the game of golf. We are passionate about a closer collaboration with the women’s game, golf for the disabled and promoting the many physical and mental health benefits of playing golf.
Global: Since 1972, players from 38 different countries have won tournaments on our main Tour, while our live broadcast reaches more than 490 million homes in more than 150 countries every week, generating in excess of 2,200 global broadcast hours for each event. We also enjoy the support of many of the world’s leading business brands with DP World, Rolex, BMW, Emirates, Fortinet and Hilton as Official Partners.
The European Tour group has Strategic Alliances with the PGA TOUR, the Sunshine Tour and ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia, while we ensure we have a positive long-term impact on the courses, countries and the communities we visit through ‘Golf for Good’, the umbrella name for the European Tour group’s commitment to ‘Driving Golf Further’ in an environmentally and socially sustainable way.
