Three birdies in a row powered Mark Tullo into the lead midway through the third round of the Tshwane Open in Centurion.
Tullo birdied the sixth, seventh and eighth holes to catch Charl Coetzee and Dawie Van der Walt.
Coetzee, at one point four shots clear yesterday, had held a one-shot lead at the end of the second round, which was completed this morning following storms on the course last night.
Van der Walt, one shot back, soon caught him with a birdie on the first before both players picked up a shot on the 685-yard par five fourth, the longest hole in European tour history.
Tullo was lying in wait, however, and moved into the lead as he made the turn in 33 before a birdie on the 10th.
That put him one shot clear of Coetzee while Van der Walt dropped into a tie for third alongside Darren Fichardt, who had four birdies on the opening nine as he recovered from a disappointing round of 71 yesterday.
Jose Maria Olazabal, who needed a 66 yesterday to avoid the cut after a miserable opening 76, was struggling again, starting on the back nine and suffering double bogeys on the 12th and 15th holes to cancel out birdies on the 11th and 16th.
Darren Clarke, who also narrowly avoided the cut, was faring only slightly better, with bogeys on the 14th and 16th keeping him down in a share of 67th place.
