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Steve Palmer's Nedbank Challenge final-round preview, best bets, free golf tips

Christiaan Bezuidenhout may emerge triumphant from congested leaderboard

Tommy Fleetwood looks set to cruise past Luke Donald in round four
Tommy Fleetwood looks set to cruise past Luke Donald in round fourCredit: Getty Images

Where to watch

Sky Sports Golf, 7am Sunday

Best bets

Tommy Fleetwood top UK and Ireland
2pts 7-4 BoyleSports

Min Woo Lee top Oceania
1pt 5-1 BoyleSports

Story so far

Rasmus Hojgaard and Thomas Detry are joint-leaders of the Nedbank Challenge through three rounds at Gary Player Country Club, Sun City, South Africa.

Hojgaard scrambled a pair of pars at the 17th and 18th in round three to complete a third consecutive 69, while Detry has recovered from a Thursday 73 with back-to-back 67s.

Hojgaard was a best-price 22-1 on his Nedbank debut, while Detry was 14-1, having finished seventh in 2018 and third in 2019. Hojgaard can be backed at 16-5 with 18 holes to play, with Detry taking over as 3-1 favourite.

The pre-tournament market leader, Tommy Fleetwood, is tied for seventh place, three shots off the lead. Fleetwood is 14-1, having been 10-1 ante-post. Bad weather meant hardly any play was possible on Friday, but the event is back on schedule. The final threeball of Hojgaard, Detry and Branden Grace tees off at 7.20am UK and Ireland time on Sunday.

Leaderboard
-9 Rasmus Hojgaard, Thomas Detry
-8 Thriston Lawrence, Branden Grace
-7 Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Luke Donald
-6 Ryan Fox, Shubhankar Sharma, Tommy Fleetwood

Best prices
3 T Detry, 16-5 R Hojgaard, 6 B Grace, 15-2 T Lawrence, 10 C Bezuidenhout, 14 T Fleetwood, 20 R Fox, 28 L Donald, 66 bar

Final-round preview

Thomas Detry has been in excellent form in his early forays as a PGA Tour member - and the increasingly confident Belgian is looking to ride that American wave by landing a long overdue maiden DP World Tour title.

Detry has Stateside form figures of 12-9-69-2-15, having jetted straight to the Nedbank from last week's World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico. The 29-year-old has rocketed up to 81st in the world rankings and could soon be moving to the Dominican Republic for a base as he commits fully to the PGA Tour.

This week Detry is seeking to finally get over the line in front on his home circuit. He is a five-time DP World Tour runner-up. With Rory McIlroy's former caddie, JP Fitzgerald, alongside him this week, Detry has shrugged off jet lag and made 13 birdies in his last 36 holes.

With course form figures of 7-3, Detry could be about to bolster them with a W, but he still has that psychological hurdle of winning his first main-tour event. Rasmus Hojgaard, who already has three DP World Tour triumphs under his belt, is arguably slightly better value at a slightly bigger price.

Hojgaard has also been in great nick, finishing runner-up in the French Open at the end of September and fifth in the Andalucia Masters a month ago. The Dane seemed to burn himself out - he had played seven tournaments in eight weeks when closing with a 75 in the Mallorca Open at the of last month - but 17 days off prior to the Nedbank has recharged the batteries.

This is far from a Detry versus Hojgaard shootout though - the event is wide-open with 18 holes to play. South African trio Branden Grace, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Thriston Lawrence are bang in the hunt on home turf, while defending champion Tommy Fleetwood is lurking dangerously just off the pace.

Wild driving cost Ryan Fox dear on Saturday - and the Kiwi spoke negatively early in the week about how Gary Player Country Club had beaten him up in the past - so Grace, Bezuidenhout, Lawrence and Fleetwood seem the biggest threats to Detry and Hojgaard.

It is a surprise to still be able to access a double-figure price about Racing Post Sport's pre-tournament selection Bezuidenhout. The South African, recommended at 20-1, is on offer at a stand-out 10-1 with Betfred. That seems tasty given the way this class act has battled back into the event after a slow start.

Bezuidenhout showed off his magical touch on his closing hole of round three, getting a lag putt from 96 feet stone-dead for a birdie four, and a bogey-free 68 has put him only two shots off the lead going into Sunday.

Bezuidenhout, who dominated the South African Open at Gary Player Country Club in 2020 and won by five shots, can be fancied to finish strongly. The three-time DP World Tour champion would be the outright recommendation for anyone yet to get involved.

Fleetwood seems worth backing in the top UK and Ireland market from just one shot behind Luke Donald. The Ryder Cup captain has done remarkably well to contend this week, but a third-round 73 showed his vulnerability. Fleetwood, who suffered with heatstroke prior to the event, has carded three rounds of 70 and will be sensing the chance to repeat his come-from-behind 2019 Nedbank victory.

Fleetwood can overtake Donald and repel those behind him, while Min Woo Lee seems worth chancing at 5-1 for top Oceania (Australasian).

Lee is four shots behind Fox with 18 holes to play, but given the ugly nature of Fox's Saturday performance, it would come as no surprise to see the New Zealander continue to go backwards.

Fox was nine under par through 20 holes of this tournament, but is six under through 54, and course debutant Lee is well capable of catching up as he grows more comfortable at the venue.


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