Els & Goosen climb leaderboard

Local favourites Retief Goosen and Ernie Els will go out in the final grouping on Sunday after both shot four-under-par 69s in the third round of the South African Open at Fancourt on Saturday.

Goosen, on seven-under-par overall, takes a three-shot lead over Els into the final round after Britain's overnight leader Ross Fisher crashed to three-under-par overall following a five-over-par round of 78.

Fisher is tied third with another South African, Darren Fichardt, who also carded a 69 on Saturday.

Els, tied for ninth after the second round, roared up the leaderboard on Saturday with four birdies and an eagle, offset by two bogeys. The three-times SA Open champion said he was thrilled to be taking on Goosen, who won the title in 1995 at Randpark, in the final threesome on Sunday.

"It will be great to play with Retief because it looks like he's playing very well. We were together in '95 at Randpark when he didn't let up and beat me by quite a few shots.

"It will be special tomorrow for the crowd and the tournament and it will be like a major for us," Els said.

The South African, who won last week's Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek, said he was extremely pleased by his form, having returned from a five-month break for knee surgery two weeks ago.

"I've been swinging good and hitting the ball really well this week and I'm delighted to be back in contention," Els said.

Goosen, whose round included just one dropped shot - a bogey at the par-five 13th hole - said he was still battling with his swing.

"I feel like my game has been stuck the last year and I've not been hitting the ball as well as I can," he said.

"I'm happy to be playing with Ernie tomorrow, I always enjoy it. It's good for everybody. But this is playing like a majors course so I'll have to play really solid tomorrow if I'm going to win."

An eagle at the par-five fifth, when he sunk a 30-foot putt, gave Goosen a share of the lead as Fisher's waywardness off the tee was punished by two bogeys in the first three holes.

The Briton's faulty driving caused him more trouble on the par-five 16th when he took two more shots to get out of the thick rough, leading to a double-bogey. Fisher had then staggered to six-over-par for the back nine, but managed to birdie the last hole.

Swede Mattias Eliasson and South Africans Louis Oosthuizen and Keith Horne are five shots off the lead on two-under-par in the co-sanctioned event.

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