Liam Nolan believes he can still “go low” and give home favourite Altin Van Der Merwe a run for his money despite falling eight shots behind the South African heading into the final round of the SDC Championship.

The Galway man (24) got off to a flying start in the opening Challenge Tour event of the season at Zebula Golf Estate & Spa, reeling off birdies at the first three holes to tie for the lead.

While he couldn’t keep it going on the baked-out fairways in Limpopo and mixed bogeys at the 10th and 16th with a birdie at the 12th, a two-under 70 left him tied for ninth heading into the final round as overnight leader Van Der Merwe scorched four clear after a brilliant 65.

“Yeah, it was another good, solid round,” said Nolan, who has little status on what is now the HotelPlanner Tour but could earn a full card with a win.  

“I got off to a flyer. Started with three in a row, and then as the day went on, I struggled to hit a few fairways, especially with the course baking up with the heat.  

“I found it very hard to keep the ball on the fairway off the tee, but I scrambled well for the most part, couple of dropped shots.  

“But listen, that's not too bad, and I haven't done myself any damage, so I'd be looking just to get it going again early tomorrow and try and keep it going.”

Nolan has an Alps Tour card for 2025 but after taking advantage of an invitation this week, he clearly has the game to compete week-in and week-out on Europe’s second-tier tour.

Despite failing to build on his fast start, he was far from downcast about his day and hopes to get off to another quick start on Sunday.

“I executed every shot exactly how I wanted to in the first three holes and then as the round progressed, you're just trying to keep doing those good things,” he said.  

“It kind of slipped a little bit today compared to the start, but it's nothing to be worried about. I still played hard and tried hard out there. So, you know, all good things. I am very, very happy looking at this as my first tournament of the season, rather than an invite.

“So it's great to come out here and be in contention and competing early in the year. So hopefully I can follow up with another good round tomorrow and see where it leaves me.”

He has his work cut out to catch Van Der Merwe (28), who made four birdies to go out in three-under before sandwiching an eagle three at the 15th between birdies at the 12th and 17th to get to 18-under.

The South African’s 65 helped him extend his one-stroke overnight lead to four shots over France’s Sebastian Gross (35), who shot 68.

But while Nolan shares ninth place on 10-under and will likely need to go very low to win, he’s not ruling anything out.

“With the fairways baking up and the greens getting firm, anything can happen,” he said when Van Der Merwe was still just 15-under. 

“I don't have a number in mind, but if I execute my game plan as I'd like to, I can definitely go low.”

Thrilled to be in the mix, he added: “It's amazing. To be in the top 10 going into a Sunday in any tournament is a great feeling. 

“So I’m just really looking forward to getting going tomorrow and seeing what I can do out there.”

At the DP World Tour’s Ras Al Khaimah Championship, Pádraig Harrington bogeyed three of his last four holes and shot a one-over 73 to go into the final round tied for 68th on level par.

Spain’s Alejandro del Rey (26) shot a bogey-free 66 to lead by two shots on 16-under par from England’s Marcus Armitage as he seeks his maiden win on the main tour.

"I'm very happy,” said Del Rey, who birdied three of his last five holes to outscore playing partner Armitage by four strokes. 

“I think I didn't play probably as well as the last couple of days but I got away with a couple of shots that I missed and then my short game was amazing today. So very pleased.

"I think in my mind I put a number in my head and that's where I wanted to get. It's true that we (Del Rey and playing partner Armitage) are competing against each other but I think it's mainly tomorrow when it's down to one another.”

It looks like a two-horse race with Australia’s Jason Scrivener, South Africa‘s Shaun Norris and France’s David Ravetto seven shots behind the Spaniard in a tie for third on nine-under.