Zander Lombard regains lead ahead of the final day

Zander Lombard fired an eagle at the par-5 5th as well as five birdies and two bogeys to close with a 5-under 66 and regain the solo lead at 18-under at the Soudal Open.

“I’m just going stick to my guns, stick to my strengths and keep ticking my box to stay in my bubble,” said the South African. “That putt on 18 was kind of an awkward double breaker and to put a good roll on it and to see it go in, that makes you sleep a little better tonight and come out fresh tomorrow.

“You don’t deserve anything in golf but I think I’ve worked really hard for it. It was a very slow turn, around nine, ten, 11, 12, a couple of loose shots. So to have that three-shot lead after hitting a couple of bad shots, it’s very nice going into tomorrow.”

Lombard has had seven runner-up finishes on the DP World Tour, five of them between 2022 and 2024, but has yet to win. He suffered an injury that led to a seven-month break then lost his Tour card but regained it with a 13-shot victory at the Qualifying School Final Stage last November.

“It was a lovely start and I kind of dragged my heels a bit around the turn, a few loose shots and managed to get a few good up-and-downs,” he added.

“I said to my caddie after hitting a drive on 14 into the water, ‘why are we doing this? Why are we playing these stupid shots?’. And then after making that putt on 15, I said, ‘that was the last of it. Let’s get back into our focus’ and then finished with three birdies in a row.

“So, I think it was a good character-building day today and ready for tomorrow.”

Compatriot MJ Daffue briefly joined Lombard in the lead around the turn having eagled the 5th and made two birdies to make the turn in 32. He fired three more birdies and one bogey on the back nine to close with a 65 and lies in second place at 15-under.

Overnight co-leader Tom Vaillant of France made two bogeys, his first of the tournmanent, as well as three birdies for a 70 and a share of third place at 14-under.

England’s Ben Schmidt made five birdies and one bogey for a 67 and his share of third place while Dane Jacob Skov Olesen eagled the par-4 11th and added three birdies and one bogey for a 67 for his.

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