De Villiers takes King’s Cup lead on moving day

Jacques P de Villiers shot two-under-par 70 in round three of the Big Easy King’s Cup to total 13-under for the tournament and usurp Dongkwan Kim from the summit of the leaderboard ahead of the final round.

He went into the third round trailing by a single shot behind Kim on 11-under, and eventually took over the top spot after Kim shot two-over-par on Thursday. “I’m 13-under now and I’m very happy about it,” De Villiers said after his round.

“It was a miserable day today. It was really tough. The wind made it very tricky trying to commit to a shot and getting them close. And with the wet greens, they pick up the sand and make judging the speed a bit tricky but they were still running true, so I’m chuffed with my round,” he said.

In such weather conditions, a two-under-par score is respectable and De Villiers maintains that with the score he has posted for the week, there will be no reason for him to either attack or play safely in the final round. “The game plan tomorrow is pretty much the same,” he said.

“The aim is to just hit fairways and greens. I’m not really going to let the other guys bother me. I’ll just be sticking to my own thing and see what happens. If it produces a win, I’m very happy.”

Making moving day count was veteran Bradford Vaughan who has won three times in Swaziland before. He posted the lowest score of the round as he powered to a seven-under-par 65 third round which catapulted him to a share of second with Aubrey Beckley on 11-under. A bogey on 15, which was his sixth hole, spoiled what could have been a flawless round for the 42-year old.

Beckley, on the other hand, shot a perfect six-under-66 while Kim’s two-over par saw him drop from 12-under par for the week to 10-under and leave him fourth on the leaderboard. NJ Arnoldi occupies fifth on nine-under while Duane Keun, Ruan Conradie, Swazi amateur James Pennington, Herman Loubser and Coert Groenewald are in a share of sixth on eight-under-par.

With things so tight at the top of the leaderboard, the final round is sure to produce some of the best golf for the spectators and players alike.