Matt Wallace has continued his forward progress up the Joburg Open leaderboard after recovering from a disappointing start to shoot a five-under-par third round of 67.

Having fired a six-under-par second round yesterday to move up to tie for 36th place when play was suspended, the Moor Park Golf Club professional made a bogey, bogey start after teeing off from the ninth at Randpark Golf Club’s Firethorn Course.

But the 27-year-old’s response to those setbacks was impressive as he made eagle on the par five 12th and then rolled in consecutive birdies to move to seven-under.

The Pinner-based professional picked up another shot on the ‘front’ nine with a two at 17 and he was to take his birdie count to five for the day with a three at the par four third, followed by a four at the fourth to leave him in a tie for 12th at the time of writing.

The Johannesburg tournament is currently led by India’s Shubhankar Sharma, who has a five-shot cushion over the field on 20-under as he nears the end of his third round at an event which carries the additional incentive of three qualifying places for next year’s Open Championship.