Golf - Avantha Masters:Darren Clarke is within touching distance of the lead at the €1.5million Avantha Masters where a busy leaderboard sees no less than seven players share the lead going into the final round at DLF Golf and Country Club in New Delhi, India.
Clarke fired a third round 70 to get to nine-under heading into the final round. The 41-year-old had little trouble finding birdies – five in all – but he lost the chance to get into a share of the lead by dropping two shots in his last three holes.
However, at nine-under Clarke finds himself just two shots off the overnight lead and is well-placed to challenge on the final day.
Gareth Maybin is four shots off the lead after the Ballyclare professional matched Clarke’s 70 to get to seven under. It was a day to forget for Shane Lowry, who after yesterday’s 66 went into freefall today and eventually signed for a 77. That dropped the Clara man back to two under and just inside the top 50.
England’s Richard Bland and Sweden’s Fredrik Andersson Hed were the two biggest movers after their matching 66s moved them into a share of the lead on 11-under alongside Darren Beck (70), Yih-Shin Chan (72), Rahil Gangjee (69), Tetsuji Hiratsuka (70) and veteran Barry Lane (71).
Bland, who started his third round six shots off the pace, made a bright start with two birdies in his opening three holes but failed to make further inroads over the front nine.
However, he accelerated coming back, picking up four shots over his closing seven holes.
“I have to say that it felt a bit strange that 66 because there were points when I felt that I wasn’t playing too well,” said the 37-year-old.
“It felt like my playing partners played better than I did but I was the one that made the score. They are probably at home cursing me at the moment but you have to take the luck when it comes your way.
“Sometimes you have to do it the ugly way. I’m not saying it was a really ugly day but usually 66s are a little bit prettier than that. But I managed to take advantage.”
Lane maintained his bid to become the oldest winner of a European Tour event after the 49-year-old carded a 71, although he missed the chance to take the outright lead going into the final day with a frustrating bogey at the last.
“I played beautifully today, really nice,” said Lane, who would take over the mantle of oldest winner from Ireland’s Des Smyth, who won the Madeira Island Open in 2001, aged 48 years and 34 days.
“I just couldn’t hole any putts until the 15th and then holed another good one on the 17th but apart from that I struggled on the greens again so my wife had summoned me to the putting green to try and work on it and figure it out.”
In a day of missed opportunities Tetsuji Hiratsuka, who set a course record 62 yesterday, wasted an opportunity to head the field after a bogey at the 18th saw him sign for a 70 while the same fate befell Darren Beck after the Australian had picked up four early birdies.
Collated third round scores and totals in the European Tour Avantha Masters, DLF Golf and Country Club, New Delhi, India
(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):
205Yin-shin Chan (Tpe) 65 68 72, Rahil Gangjee (Ind) 67 69 69, Richard Bland 68 71 66, Darren Beck (Aus) 70 65 70, Tetsuji Hiratsuka (Jpn) 73 62 70, Barry Lane 67 67 71, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 68 71 66
206David Drysdale 68 67 71, Kwanchai Tannin (Hkg) 68 68 70, Andrew Dodt (Aus) 67 68 71
207Jeppe Huldahl (Den) 71 70 66, Marcel Siem (Ger) 64 73 70, Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha) 67 73 67, Darren Clarke 71 66 70, Wen-hong Lin (Chn) 68 70 69, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 68 71 68
208Oliver Fisher 70 67 71
209John Parry 67 67 75, Richie Ramsay 71 68 70, Gareth Maybin 70 69 70, Udorn Duangdecha (Tha) 71 71 67, Steven O'Hara 69 73 67, Chih-bing Lam (Sin) 67 68 74, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 71 70 68, Jason Knutzon (USA) 70 67 72, Sung Lee (Kor) 71 65 73, Richard Finch 69 69 71, Rick Kulacz (Aus) 68 67 74
210Peter Whiteford 70 70 70, Wen-chong Liang (Chn) 71 68 71, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 72 67 71, Lee Slattery 70 69 71
211David Howell 74 68 69, Rhys Davies 72 68 71, Gregory Havret (Fra) 71 71 69, Hideto Tanihara (Jpn) 71 69 71
212Arjun Atwal (Ind) 72 69 71, Angelo Que (Phi) 73 70 69, Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 68 72 72, Clodomiro Carranza (Arg) 73 69 70, Danny Chia (Mal) 74 65 73, Adam Blyth (Aus) 74 68 70
213Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 67 74 72, Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha) 74 69 70, Seung-yul Noh (Kor) 72 70 71, Joost Luiten (Ned) 69 74 70, George Coetzee (Rsa) 72 70 71, Kunal Bhasin (Ind) 71 71 71
214 Shane Lowry 71 66 77, Andrew Coltart 69 74 71, Richard McEvoy 73 68 73, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 72 70 72, Chinnarat Phadungsil (Tha) 76 65 73
215Scott Hend (Aus) 76 67 72, Mark f Haastrup (Den) 72 71 72, Scott Barr (Aus) 73 70 72, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 70 73 72, Digvijay Singh (Ind) 71 71 73
216Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 69 74 73, Ben Leong (Mal) 68 73 75, Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 71 70 75, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 71 71 74
217Ashok Kumar (Ind) 70 72 75, Ted Oh (Kor) 71 72 74
218Anthony Kang (USA) 71 72 75
220Julien Quesne (Fra) 73 70 77