Golf
Bezuidenhout looking to chase down Reitan on third day of Nedbank Golf Challenge─── ILSE SMALBERGER 09:55 Sat, 06 Dec 2025
South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout will be chasing Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan on Saturday (6/12) to close the three-stroke gap between the two in the Nedbank Golf Challenge in honour of Gary Player.
Reitan leads the pack on 12 under par overall thanks to a 69 on Friday not quite as good as his opening 63. Breathing in his neck is the Frenchman Adrien Saddier, who is eleven under, with Bezuidenhout leading the South African challenge thanks to a 65 on Friday.
He is in joint third place on nine under par with France’s Julien Guerrier. Reitan opened with a birdie on the first but suffered back-to-back bogeys on 15 and 16 before finishing with a birdie on the 18th. He was still happy with his overall play on the day.
“It’s a tough course and I’m happy to finish strong with a birdie at the last. It’s difficult to stay patient out there. The wind goes in circles here, so I had no idea what I was doing.
“It feels like it could be in any direction and that’s not a huge confidence boost when you’re standing over the golf ball. But I felt like I dealt with it as best as I could.”
Eagle
Saddier also had a pretty good start with an eagle on the par-five second and a birdie on the third. But he stumbled at the end and bogeyed two of the last three holes.
“It was a pretty hot start which is good on this course. It’s a pity about the finish. The second on 17 was quite lucky because I didn’t expect to reach the green to be honest.
“It came off hot off the face, so it was lucky, but I’ll take it. My long game is pretty solid, and I just need to keep going for the next two days.”
Bezuidenhout, who was the 2020 South African Open champion on the same course, has come fairly close to the trophy twice before, finishing fifth in 2022 and sixth in 2024. At the start of the third day, he will focus on trying to achieve a childhood dream.
‘I’ve wanted to win’
“It’s always been a tournament that I’ve wanted to win. I’ve been coming here since I was a young kid watching Ernie Els and all the greats play here. I’ve come close before and now I’ve put myself in a good position again. Hopefully I can get over the line.”
South Africans, Garick Higgo and Daniel van Tonder also have Reitan in sight at seven under par, both sharing fifth place with Korea’s Junghwan Lee and England’s Andy Sullivan.
World number 153, SA’s Jayden Schaper, is in ninth overall at six under par.
