The 22-year-old Jarvis, who three years ago shot a 59 on the Sunshine Tour, is seeking a maiden DP World Tour title. Gerard, whose maiden win on the PGA Tour at the Barracuda Championship did not earn him an automatic Augusta Masters berth, is hoping to sneak into the top 50 in the world to make the field at Augusta National in April. He is currently 57th in the world.

Levy lost his Tour card this year and finished 22nd at Q-School to miss out on getting it back. He is looking to end a seven-year title drought and also secure full status on the DP World Tour.

It was a dramatic moving day as overnight leaders Jarvis and Levy were slow to start. Jarvis, for the third day in a row, made pars on each of the first four holes at La Réserve Golf Links, while Levy had three pars to start. Jarvis birdied the sixth and the eighth, and Levy picked up shots on the fourth and the sixth but also dropped one on the ninth.

Ahead of them was Gerard, whose win at the Barracuda Championship—an event co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour—earned him an entry into the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.

Gerard bogeyed early on the second, but then went on a tear, birdieing four times in the next seven holes. After a breather with three pars from the ninth to the 11th, he caught fire again. He birdied five holes in a row from the 12th to the 16th and, after missing a sixth straight opportunity on the 17th, faced an eagle putt from almost 20 feet on the 18th. He missed the eagle—which would have given him the sole lead—but converted the birdie for the week’s best card of 7-under 63. It lifted him from overnight tied-fifth into a share of the lead.

After being alone at the top for most of the day, Jarvis, playing a group behind, now had company. He hit a great drive on the 18th, but his second shot had everyone gasping as the ball veered well off target into the long grass. But Lady Luck smiled on Jarvis—the ball struck a camera and bounced back into comparatively lighter rough. He failed to reach the green in three and left his fourth shot 10 feet short. However, he nailed the putt for a bogey-free 4-under 68 to retain a share of the lead, heaving a sigh of relief.

Levy, smiling as usual, made three birdies between the 12th and the 15th to stay within striking distance. He reached the green in two on the 18th and closed with a birdie for a card of 5-under 67.

Another to catch the eye was Jayden Schaper, who began with four birdies in the first five holes. He bogeyed the seventh and the 11th but birdied the eighth to be 3-under through 11. That may have seemed modest on a day when scores were low despite the weather challenges.

However, in the closing stretch of his third round, Schaper—winner last week at the Alfred Dunhill Championship—found his rhythm again. He holed his second shot on the par-4 13th and birdied the 14th, 17th, and 18th for an 8-under 64, the second-best round of the day.

Manuel Elvira (69) looked good until bogeying twice on the back nine. At 12-under, he was fifth and four shots behind in his quest to join his brother, Nacho, as a DP World Tour winner.

Defending champion John Parry bogeyed twice in the first four holes but rallied magnificently with four birdies in the next five and three more on the back nine for a 67 that took him to 11-under. Five shots off the lead, he will need a strong, fast start to become the first-ever two-time winner of the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.

Marcel Schneider (66) and Andres Halvorsen enjoyed their moments with superb rounds, but both sit at 10-under and appear a little too far back to mount a title challenge.

Still, stranger things have happened on a golf course—especially one as demanding as La Réserve Golf Links, which has provided rich golfing theatre over the last three days. And there is one more day to come.

Come Sunday, be sure to be there at La Réserve Golf Links.

By V Krishnaswamy