JOHANNESBURG — South Africans Trevor Fisher Jr and Richard Sterne kept the joint lead in the Joburg Open Saturday after they both carded 68s in the third round. The pair go into Sunday's final round locked on 19-under-par for the tournament, five shots clear at the top of the leaderboard. Sterne is a five-time European Tour winner, but has not claimed a trophy since 2008, while Fisher is seeking his first win on the tour. Fisher surged ahead Saturday having gone out in 33 in his first nine holes, but three bogies coming home allowed his rival to stay in touch. It could have been different after a fine approach to the 18th green left Fisher a 10-foot putt for eagle, while Sterne landed in the greenside bunker. But an excellent save out of the sand gave Sterne a birdie and, when Fisher let the eagle chance slip, the opportunity to take the overnight lead was gone. A quartet of players are five shots back, including twice winner Charl Schwartzel. The 2011 Masters champion shot a bogey-free 68 to stay in the hunt, along with Chilean Felipe Aguilar (70), and home players Jaco van Zyl (67) and George Coetzee (70). South African Garth Mulroy produced the round of the day, with a 65 which took him to 12-under for the tournament. The 2011 Joburg Open runner-up sunk eight birdies to go into Sunday tied for eighth place. With thunderstorms predicted for Sunday afternoon, the tee-off times for the fourth round have been brought forward, with the leaders playing in a three-ball. Snedeker, Potter share lead at Pebble Beach Ted Potter opened with an eagle on his way to firing a three-under par 67 Friday to share the lead with Brandt Snedeker after the second round of the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Snedeker and Potter stood on eight-under 134 after 36 holes at the $6.5 million US PGA event, which is played over three different northern California courses near the Pacific Ocean. Potter, a 29-year-old American who won his first PGA title last year at the Greenbrier Classic, fired a five-under 67 on Thursday at par-72 Pebble Beach and then backed it up with a solid round Friday at the par-70 Monterrey Peninsula Shore course. Starting on the back nine, Potter eagled the par-5 10th hole but took back-to-back bogeys at the 14th and 15th. He answered with two sets of back-to-back birdies, the first brace at the second and third and the other at the par-5 sixth and par-3 seventh. He closed with a bogey at nine. Snedeker opened with a 66 at the Shore on Thursday and followed with a bogey-free 4-under 68 on Friday at par-72 Spyglass Hill. Also starting on the 10th tee, Snedeker birdied the par-3 12th and par-5 14th then added back-to-back birdies at the par-5 seventh and par-4 eighth. A quartet of players were at 7-under. John Merrick posted a 67 at the Shore, where Hunger Mahan carded a 69. Sweden's Fredrik Jacobsen got to 7-under with a superb six-under 66 at Pebble Beach. Patrick Reed posted a 69 at Pebble Beach that included three birdies without a bogey. — Agencies
