Brooks closing in on Bovey Castle victory

Daniel Brooks has opened up a four-shot lead at ten under par ahead of the final round of the PGA EuroPro Tour’s Sureshot GPS International Open at Bovey Castle in Devon.
Brooks (Mill Hill) began his second round at seven under par after an opening round 63 without a dropped shot and the 22 year-old continued that good scoring, moving to nine under par after his front nine.
Two further birdies at the start of the back nine took Brooks to 11 under, before his first bogey of the opening rounds came out the 16th to post 67 and a commanding four shot lead.
Brooks led overnight with Carlos Balmaseda but the Spaniard had an awful start to his second round with a triple-bogey 7 on the first followed by four more bogeys and a double bogey at the ninth to decimate his efforts on Tuesday and move to two over.
Birdies at the 12th and 13th saw the 37 year-old regain parity, but another bogey at the 16th meant he ended eight over for the day and one over for the tournament.
Matthew Evans (Rotherham) and Tom Haylock (Ground Construction Ltd) are the closest challengers to the leader ahead of Thursday’s final round with both men finishing with back to back birdies – Evans ending with a 65 and Haylock with 69 to both end on six under.
Peter Appleyard (Read Group) also bagged a 65 to move to five under for the tournament, where he is joined by Nicky Harris (Whitefield GC) and Jamie Elson (Forum Financial Associates) – Harris shooting a 68 and Elson a 69.
Order of Merit leader Steve Surry (Cumberwell Park) gained a stroke from his overnight position at three under to join Neil Walker (Special Steel Group) at four under. 58 players made the cut at four over and the final round of the Sureshot GPS International Open begins at 8am, with the leading pair of Brooks and Evans teeing off at 12.30pm.
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SECOND-ROUND LEADERS
Par 140 (2x70)
130 Daniel Brooks 63 67.
134 Matthew Evans 69 65,Tom Haylock 65 69.
135 Peter Appleyard 70 65, Nicky Harris 67 68, Jamie Elson 66 69.
136 Neil Walker 68 68, Steve Surry 67 69.
138 Gary Wolstenholme 68 70, Kevin Harper 67 71, Paul Dwyer 69 69.
Scots' scores:
141 Scott Jamieson 71 70 (jt 24th).
143 Barry Hume 69 74, Lorne Kelly 73 70 (jt 38th).
144 Mark Kerr 68 76 (jt 48th).
DID NOT QUALIFY
145 John Gallagher 70 75.
146 Elliot Saltman 75 71.
147 Graham Brown 71 76.
151 Paul Doherty 74 77.
153 Jack Doherty 71 82.
157 Shaun McAllister 76 81.