JOHANNESBURG, June 14 — Siphiwe Siphayi blistered the back nine on Tuesday en route to a sparkling eight-under 64 that earned him a one-shot advantage heading into the final round of the MENA Golf Tour’s Jo’burg City Masters which is co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Big Easy Tour.

Starting the day a good seven shots off the pace, Siphayi hit the hot streak after making the turn at two-under, rattling off six birdies, including four in a row on from the 12th to reach six-under for the tournament.

Overnight leader Bryn Flanagan settled for a level-par 72 that left him solo second on five-under, two ahead of England’s Craig Hinton and Pieter Kruger of South Africa.

Talented South African amateur David Meyers was a further shot back in a six-man group on two-under as four shots separated the top 10 ahead of the final round.

Siphiwe Siphayi shoots sizzling 64 to muscle his way to one shot Jo’burg Masters lead. (Photo – MENA Tour)

It was South African ace Siphayi who wielded a hot putter on a cold day to take centre-stage, making an improvement of a whopping 10 shots on his first-round.

“I just wanted to get back to level or maybe get a bit lower after shooting a 74 in the first round. I played really well on Monday, but just didn’t make any putts,” said Siphayi, who was placed tied 28th overnight.

“I just worked on the putting and, I guess, I just started dropping putts. I started well on the first nine – it was actually quite funny because my golf shoe ripped on the eighth hole and I had to run in and buy some shoes. Maybe it was the new shoes that gave me the six-under back nine.

“I made some nice long putts and it just got the momentum going. After the birdie on number 10 it just got better and better. I placed myself really well off the tee box and yeah we’ll have to see how it goes in the final round.

“Glendower (Golf Club) has always been a great course. The condition of the course has always been great and the greens are great. It allows us to give it a good stroke and you just need to trust your line.

“Tomorrow I’ll have the same game plan. I’ll get here and do my warm-up, get onto the course and like I said, get the lines right so you get one or two putts in and then hopefully shoot really low.

“I just make sure I dress warmly. Whilst I’m playing I keep stretching because you don’t want to get a bit cold, especially if you have to wait, so I’m always trying to just keep myself in the game. Today the momentum was great, my caddie really helped me and it was really enjoyable,” he added.

The cut was made at four-over 148 with 53 players making it to the final round.