"I hit my tee shot into the fairway trap on the left and I had about 120m left to a back pin, which is always tricky," he recalled.

"Then I hit an unbelievable gap-wedge to about 15 foot and holed it for birdie. That was just the kind of result I needed to get the momentum back after my opening bogey." PING Men's i20 TFC Driver

Stone enjoyed a brace of birdies at 14 and 15 to turn in 34 and birdied the second to move to three under. But after four pars, he fell foul of the flat stick and three-putted from 20 feet.

But he hit back once more, this time with back-to-back birdies at the closing holes.

Despite his big lead, Stone is taking nothing for granted

"I've got a five shot lead but there will be at least 60 guys coming for me," he said. PING Men's i20 TFC Driver

"If I'm not at the top of my game, they will catch me. So I'll stick to the same game; it's worked so far, so why change it?

Stone was speaking about how he wants to win a title he let slip through his fingers last year, compatriot Leonard Loxton had his own reason to celebrate.

The former professional is giving the SA Stroke Play one more shot and under the guidance of his caddie, 14-time Sunshine Tour winner Jean Hugo, shot a 73 to come in one shot under the cut set at six-over-par 150. PING Men's i20 TFC Driver

"Now the real work starts for Leonard," said Hugo. "I've done my bit and got him past the cut; now the rest is up to him."

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