Naidoo shoots 66 to share third round lead in Mauritius

South Africa's Dylan Naidoo has produced a superb front nine for a third-round score of 66 and a share of the lead with Englishman Eddie Pepperell (69) on 11 under-par in the Mauritius Open at Mont Choisy Le Golf.

The pair are one shot ahead of the Denmark's Jacob Skov Olesen (69), with South Africa's Jovan Rebula (67) in fourth on nine under-par.

Naidoo, 25, carded six birdies in his first seven holes of the round on Saturday, before a bogey on the ninth.

He added two more birdies on the back nine but also dropped a shot on the par-five 18th to end on a low note.

"I had to focus and find the competitor in me. The front nine was good, the back nine a grind, but I am happy with the result overall," Naidoo said.

"I tend to like courses where good driving can set you up nicely and my iron play has been good lately. I found the putter today as well."

Naidoo's best previous finish on the European tour is tied 11th at the same event last year.

"There are still 18 holes to play, a long way to go. I am excited to be in this position, I have never been here before," he said.

Pepperell, 33, who has two previous wins on tour, both in 2018, is using the trip to Mauritius as a belated honeymoon with caddie wife Jennifer and would dearly love to celebrate a win.

Australian Daniel Gale had threatened to launch a serious challenge at the top of the leaderboard as he moved to within a couple of shots of Naidoo at one point, but a double-bogey six at the 16th and another bogey at the last eventually left him six off the lead in joint-15th place after a two-under 70.