JOHANNESBURG, Jan 19: South Africa’s Martin Maritz fired a nine-under-par 63 on Saturday to move two shots clear after the Dunhill Championship’s third round, but Ernie Els matched his score to close to within four of the lead.

India’s Sandeep Grewal, joint leader at the tournament’s halfway stage, returned a 68 to finish alone in third at 14 under.

Maritz, 24, set the tone for his round with six birdies in his first seven holes to reach the turn in 30. He added a further three birdies on the back nine to finish with a 63.

Leading third scores (South African unless stated):

199 Martin Maritz 72 64 63

201 Mark Foster (Britain) 69 67 65

202 Sandeep Grewal (Britain) 70 64 68

203 Ernie Els 68 72 63, Paul McGinley (Ireland) 66 71 66, Justin Rose (Britain) 71 66 66, Roger Wessels 68 66 69

204 Mark Mouland (Britain) 68 69 67

205 Christian Cevaer (France) 70 67 68, Retief Goosen 68 67 70

LA QUINTA (California): South African Deane Pappas produced a sizzling back nine to join Americans Kirk Triplett and Duffy Waldorf in a share of the third round lead at the $4 million Bob Hope Classic on Friday.

Leading third round scores:

197 Kirk Triplett 64-69-64, Duffy Waldorf 66-67-64, Deane Pappas (South Africa) 66-68-63

198 Brandel Chamblee 63-67-68, Jerry Kelly 64-69-65, Cameron Beckman 67-67-64, John Senden (Australia) 64-65-69

199 Jay Haas 63-68-68

200 David Berganio 69-66-65, Chris DiMarco 67-69-64, Justin Leonard 70-66-64, Craig Stadler 70-66-64.—Reuters