• South Africa Open, Round Three

Otto takes three-shot lead into final round

Hennie Otto has a commanding lead going into the final round of the South Africa Open © Getty Images

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Hennie Otto will take a three-shot lead into the final round of the South Africa Open after a fine round of 65 on Saturday.

Otto, ranked 226th in the world, stormed through the field with a blistering back nine of 30 as the halfway leaders all struggled to make an impression on par, with an eagle three at the par-five 11th the highlight as the South African moved to 14-under for the tournament at Serengeti Golf Club.

"The SA Open is our national championship, you always want to do well in it," said Otto. "I'm in a better place than I used to be and I'm going one way and that's not down.

"The greens were a bit quicker than the last two days. On these greens, if you hit it in the wrong place you three-putt.

"I started hitting it in the right places and I made more putts. That makes a big difference."

Otto is likely to face the stiffest challenge from a more high-profile compatriot on Sunday, with Retief Goosen one of four players to be just three shots off the pace.

The two-time US Open champion got his day off to a flying start with three birdies in his first three holes to move two clear of the rest of the field, but struggled to build on that momentum as he bogeyed the ninth, 13th, 17th and 18th - a disappointing end to a round of 71.

Swede Magnus A Carlsson is the only non-South African at 11-under as he searches for his maiden European Tour victory, alongside Thomas Aiken and Garth Mulroy - with Merrick Bremner at ten-under after he made a hash of the 18th.

Elsewhere there was real disappointment for overnight leader Steven O'Hara, as the Scot slumped to a two-over round of 74 that only just kept him inside the top ten. O'Hara needs to finish inside the top three to move into the top 118 on the Race to Dubai and retain his playing privileges for 2012.

Another Scot, Lloyd Saltman, was briefly in among the leading back on Saturday - but a disastrous inward nine of 40 saw the youngster drop back to seven-under for the tournament and give him little chance of claiming victory in Ekurhuleni.

Ernie Els had a similarly disappointing day, finishing with a round of 76 to drop back to two-under overall.

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