PALMER AND SANTOS SHARE CHALLENGE TOUR LEAD IN BELGIUM

From Challenge Tour Press Officer Paul Symes
England’s Jason Palmer and Portugal’s Ricardo Santos, both bidding to capture their debut Challenge Tour titles, will carry a one-shot lead into the final day of the Telenet Trophy in Belgium.
The duo birdied the final hole at Royal Waterloo Golf Club, on the outskirts of Brussels, to move to seven under par, one stroke clear of Lima’s compatriot José-Filipe Lima and Palmer’s fellow Englishman Oliver Whiteley.
Of the two it was perhaps Santos’ round of 68 which was the more polished, as Palmer’s putter rescued him on more than one occasion after some indifferent iron play on the back nine.
But the Englishman, who has already made quite an impression in his maiden Challenge Tour campaign, took the positives from a gritty round of 69 which got off to a thunderous start with three successive birdies.
He said: “I’m not quite sure how I shot a 69 today, but I’ll certainly take it! I couldn’t have got off to a better start, but on the back nine I hit a few wild shots which might have cost me on a another day.
“Fortunately my putter got me out of trouble a few times – I holed probably the best putt for bogey I’ve ever sunk on the 14th. It was only from 25 feet, but it had at last 12 feet of break.
“I’d bogeyed the 13th so if I made double there, my confidence might’ve taken a knock. But I holed it dead weight and then made two birdies on the way in, so if I do go on to win tomorrow, I might look back on that putt as the turning point.”
Santos arrived at the €160,000 event on the back of his best European Tour performance at last week’s Madeira Islands Open, where he finished in a tie for tenth place. During his six-year Challenge Tour career the 28 year old has finished fourth on four previous occasions, but is now hoping to celebrate a first victory in the company of wife Rita and young daughter Victoria, who have travelled to Brussels with him.
He said: “I played much better than yesterday, maybe because the conditions were better but also because I was stronger mentally. If I can keep the same attitude that I had today and forget about the fact that it’s the final day then it will help me to relax, and that’s when I play my best golf. Of course there will be pressure, but I’m also going to enjoy it.”
Earlier in the day, Belgian Pierre Relecom used his local knowledge to superb effect in a rousing round of 66 to surge into contention. Like his younger sibling Jean, who notched a hole in one on the opening day of the €160,000 event, Relecom was born and raised a stone’s throw from Royal Waterloo Golf Club, where both brothers are attached.
Relecom started the day languishing in 49th place, but moved to within three strokes of the lead after carding seven birdies and a solitary bogey.

THIRD-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 216 (3x72)
209 R Santos (Por) 68 73 68, J Palmer (Eng) 70 70 69
210 O Whiteley (Eng) 68 72 70, J Lima (Por) 72 71 67
211 C Brazillier (Fra) 74 68 69, B Grace (RSA) 68 75 68
212 P Relecom (Bel) 74 72 66, F Colombo (Ita) 71 69 72, M Lundberg (Swe) 71 70 71, T Fleetwood (Eng) 73 65 74
213 C Paisley (Eng) 71 71 71, S Davis (Eng) 75 68 70, D Lokke (Den) 71 71 71, D Vanegas (Col) 68 73 72
214 K Eriksson (Swe) 79 64 71, B Evans (Eng) 74 70 70, C Moriarty (Irl) 77 68 69, A Tampion (Aus) 70 72 72, A Pavan (Ita) 72 71 71
215 L Canter (Eng) 71 74 70, D Denison (Eng) 71 72 72, H Bacher (Aut) 77 67 71, A McArthur (Sco) 72 71 72, A Maestroni (Ita) 76 69 70, J Garcia (Esp) 70 74 71
216 B Hafthorsson (Isl) 75 69 72, A Perrino (Ita) 77 69 70, B Miarka (Ger) 73 68 75, A Canete (Arg) 71 72 73, M Warren (Sco) 71 75 70, A Hansen (Den) 71 73 72, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 73 72 71
217 A Haindl (RSA) 73 71 73, R De Sousa (Sui) 73 71 73, N Vanhootegem (Bel) 71 73 73, B Chapellan (Fra) 74 70 73, J Guerrier (Fra) 75 69 73, M Kieffer (Ger) 75 71 71, G Molteni (Ita) 73 72 72, G Dear (Sco) 72 71 74, J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 75 71 71,
218 L Jensen (Den) 74 68 76, G Adell (Swe) 71 71 76, B Barham (Eng) 76 70 72, C Doak (Sco) 74 72 72, B Åkesson (Swe) 71 71 76
219 S Bebb (Wal) 75 70 74, L Richard (Bel) 73 73 73, J Grillon (Fra) 73 72 74, E Bertheussen (Nor) 74 72 73, C Mivis (Bel) 72 74 73, S Hutsby (Eng) 73 72 74, S Robinson (Eng) 70 76 73, P Archer (Eng) 72 74 73, J Legarrea (Esp) 73 72 74, J Quesne (Fra) 78 68 73, K Hesbois (am) (Bel) 76 68 75
220 J Hepworth (Eng) 75 71 74, I Keenan (Eng) 72 74 74
221 A Signor (Ita) 72 73 76, M Baldwin (Eng) 72 73 76, G Jackson (Eng) 67 74 80,
222 P Golding (Eng) 73 71 78, J Doherty (Sco) 74 72 76,
226 N Lombardi (Ita) 75 71 80,