HENRIK Stenson shot a seven-under 65 Saturday to extend his lead to eight shots after the third round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge.

Stenson held a four-stroke lead after finishing the rain-interrupted second round earlier, and sits at 17-under 199 going into yesterday's final round.

Only fellow Swede Robert Karlsson seems likely to offer any sort of challenge on the last day, after a five-under 67 put him in second place.

Rory Sabbatini of South Africa battled all day to stay in touch, but repeatedly missed crucial putts and ended with a double-bogey six on the 18th after landing his approach in a bunker. Sabbatini remained in third place, but his 72 puts him 11 shots off the lead.

'I might as well go out and play a mediocre round tomorrow, and save the big putts for when they matter,' a visibly upset Sabbatini said.

Stenson opened the tournament with a course-record 63 on Thursday, and seven birdies in his bogey-free round on Saturday.

'There was a little bit of fighting earlier on, but from nine onwards I obviously started making a lot of birdies and that kind of gets you going,' Stenson said.

'I hit of lot of good putts that finished four or five inches short on line, so I guess I could have made even a few more, but overall I'm absolutely not complaining about that.' - AP.

LEADERBOARD

199: Henrik Stenson 63-71-65

207: Robert Karlsson 72-68-67

210: Rory Sabbatini 68-70-72

211: Kenny Perry 73-70-68

212: KJ Choi 72-67-73, Lee Westwood 70-72-70

214: Sergio Garcia 72-70-72, Trevor Immelman 72-73-69