Joburg Open latest: final-round play suspended for three hours due to dangerous weather

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

Shubhankar Sharma continued to dominate the final round of the Joburg Open but Erik van Rooyen was not giving up the chase before play was suspended at Randpark Golf Club.
The Indian entered the day with a five-shot lead and while he birdied two of his first seven holes to get to 22 under, South African Van Rooyen picked up four in his first eight to cut the gap to four.
Play was suspended at 1.00pm local time due to electrical activity in the air with Sharma safely on the eighth green and Van Rooyen looking at a tap-in after a glorious approach to the ninth.
The lightning in the area was persistent and it was announced any restart would be 4.00pm local time at the earliest.
England's James Morrison and Finn Tapio Pulkkanen were then at 14 under, with the chasing pack seemingly battling it out for the third and final spot available to the top three for next year's Open Championship at Carnoustie Golf Links.
England's Marcus Armitage, Swede Christofer Blomstrand and South African Shaun Norris were at 13 under, a shot clear of Dean Burmester.
Every member of the final two groups parred the first, with the gettable par five second presenting the first good chance for anyone to close the gap on Sharma.
None of Armitage, Pulkkanen and Van Rooyen could take advantage and when the final group arrived, it was Sharma who made a birdie to extend his lead to six shots.

Van Rooyen moved into a share of second with a smart approach to six feet on the third, with Pulkkanen also making a birdie to get to 14 under.
Pulkkanen gave the shot straight back on the next but Van Rooyen made it two birdies in a row to get to 16 under, with Armitage also making a gain.
Van Rooyen - who finished third in last season's Challenge Tour standings - was flying and an excellent tee-shot into the par three fifth brought another birdie and cut the gap to four.
Pulkkanen also made a birdie with Armitage dropping a shot, while all of the final group made pars on the fourth.
Blomstrand dropped a shot on the fifth and it was starting to look like a two-horse race - with Van Rooyen in second, three shots clear of the rest.
That looked even more likely as Sharma holed a 12-footer on the sixth to move five ahead and Van Rooyen rolled in a monster ahead on the seventh to keep the pressure on.
Another dropped shot from Blomstrand on the seventh looked likely to end his hopes for victory but the battle for Open spots was very much on, with Norris turning in 33 to get to 13 under.
Burmester picked up four shots in 15 holes to sit a shot ahead of Oliver Bekker, Mark Foster, Joachim B Hansen, Ross McGowan, Victor Perez and Paul Peterson.

TO VIEW THE LIVE SCOREBOARD

CLICK HERE