CHRIS DOAK ONLY FOUR SHOTS OFF THE LEAD ON CHALLENGE TOUR

EUROPEAN CHALLENGE TOUR REPORT

from Neil Ahern

nahern@europeantour.com

Chris Doak will enter the final day of the Telenet Trophy harbouring hopes of a first Challenge Tour victory after a two under par third round of 69 left him just four shots off the lead at Ravenstein Royal Golf Club of Belgium.

The former Scottish PGA Number One is in tied seventh place after a steady round on a breezy day when low scores were at a premium.

He got off to the perfect start with a birdie on the first hole before two successive bogeys on the fourth and fifth. They were to be the last dropped shots of his round, however, as he picked up shots on the 13^th, 16^th and 18^th holes to finish the day on six under par for the tournament, four shots behind Italian Marco Crespi.

“I thought I was going to finish with three birdies,” said the Greenock man. “I pretty much had chances on every hole down the back nine but I’m just not reading the greens right. There are subtle breaks on the greens but I'm putting well and my whole game is good. Now it’s just a case of moving up and shooting low tomorrow.

“I did well in India and Madeira and it was kind of the same at the start of last year too, but my putting has improved and you can’t improve enough with your putting. The difference is always when you’re holing a few.

“If the wind stays the same and I get a low one, six or seven under, I’ll definitely be there or thereabouts so I’m looking forward to it now.”

Scott Henry was just a shot further back in tied 11^th place after a steady level par third round of 70 while Jack Doherty’s two under par round of 69 moved him to tied 16^th place on four under par.

Marco Crespi maintained his lead at the Telenet Trophy after a shaky one under par third round of 70 left him a shot clear of Frenchman Alexandre Kaleka, whose eagle at the par four 18^th hole set up an intriguing final day in Belgium.

Crespi admitted he could feel the nerves stepping onto the first tee as the outright leader at Ravenstein Royal Golf Club of Belgium and it showed as he bogeyed the first, second and fourth holes.

The Italian steadied himself, however, and picked up shots at the sixth, ninth and 13^th before a chip-in at the 14^th hole moved him under par for the day. He looked like he would relinquish his outright lead after a bogey at the 17^th hole but a birdie on the final hole meant he remained in the driving seat on ten under par.

“I played pretty badly today,” said the 33 year old, who is chasing a first Challenge Tour title. “My game was completely at odds with my previous two rounds. I missed a lot of fairways with the driver and a lot of greens with my approaches.

“I hit only 24 or 25 putts today so that was the only thing that kept me in it and helped me score a one under par round. I was very nervous this morning but I tried to focus and play it shot by shot. This helped me hit a few good shots here and there so it wasn’t so bad.”

Kaleka was right on Crespi’s tail on nine under after an eventful finish to his round. The 25 year old stepped onto the 16^th tee three under par for the day and tied for the lead but took a big gamble by trying to clear trees with his approach from the rough. That didn’t go to plan, however, and he carded a triple bogey seven.

His impulsive streak did bear fruit on the 304 yard par four 18^th hole when his drive rolled to within 16 feet of the pin and with the anticipating crowds watching on, he held the putt to move into second place.

“It was really cool to finish like that,” said Kaleka, who won the ALLIANZ EurOpen de Lyon in 2009 on his Challenge Tour debut. “I played really well today so I was disappointed to be level par on the 18^th tee.

“I just missed my tee shot on the right side on the 16^th and I decided to play over the trees but it was an impossible shot. It probably was down to over-confidence but it wasn’t very smart! I played aggressively because it’s a short course and if you drive well you can get close to the greens so that’s what I tried today and it went well on some holes and bad on others.

“I'm confident going into tomorrow. I think I can score well and I’ll try to shoot a low score and we’ll see what happens.”

Olly Whitely was a shot further back in third place on eight under par after a steady one under par round of 70.

Playing with the leader Crespi, the Englishman birdied the second hole and then parred every hole up until the 17^th, which he birdied before a bogey on the 17^th left him two shots off the lead.

Spain’s Carlos Aguilar, Jurgen Maurer of Austria and Italian Andrea Perrino shared fourth place on seven under par but on a day when low scores were at a premium, Eddie Pepperell’s six under par round of 65 provided one of the stories of the day after he put his change in fortunes down to a YouTube video tutorial featuring none other than Luke Donald.

The 21 year old from England won on his first appearance of the year at the ALLIANZ Open Côtes d’Armor Bretagne two weeks ago but was struggling around the greens in the opening two days in Belgium.

He still made the cut, however, and he had a video lesson on the short game to thank for his emergence as he launched himself right into contention.

“I watched some short game stuff with Luke Donald this morning on YouTube,” said Pepperell, who won the Portuguese Amateur Championship in an impressive amateur career. “I was struggling with chipping and pitching and the feel around the greens so I watched some of his stuff.

“I love watching him, the way he plays and his short game so a few of his tips really helped me out there around the greens.”

THIRD-ROUND TOTALS

Par 213 (3x71) 

203 M Crespi  (Ita) 68 65 70

204 A Kaleka  (Fra) 69 66 69

205 O Whiteley (Eng) 69 66 70

206 A Perrino  (Ita) 69 68 69, C Aguilar  (Esp) 67 71 68, J Maurer  (Aut) 71 67 68

207 C Doak (Sco) 68 70 69, J Lima  (Por) 69 69 69, P Oriol (Esp) 67 70 70, E Pepperell (Eng) 71 71 65

208 H Bacher (Aut) 73 65 70, S Henry  (Sco) 69 68 71, B Åkesson (Swe) 69 71 68, J Parry (Eng) 66 69 73, A Sullivan (Eng) 64 76 68

209 M Korhonen (Fin) 71 69 69, N Ravano (Ita) 73 70 66, A Otaegui  (Esp) 73 66 70, T Baek (SKor) 67 71 71, J Doherty (Sco) 68 72 69, J Garcia  (Esp) 70 68 71, S Wakefield (Eng) 68 69 72

210 S Kim (SKor) 71 68 71, C Macaulay (Sco) 69 70 71, G Houston (Wal) 70 72 68, S Strange (Aus) 72 70 68, H Joannes (Bel) 69 71 70

211 M Kieffer (Ger) 70 70 71, R Karlberg (Swe) 69 72 70, A Hortal  (Esp) 72 65 74, K Eriksson (Swe) 69 70 72, M Delpodio (Ita) 68 74 69, B Barham (Eng) 66 73 72, N Lemke (Swe) 70 69 72, A Velasco (Esp) 66 73 72

212 S Tiley (Eng) 73 69 70, J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 71 71 70, P Archer (Eng) 71 71 70, D Lokke (Den) 75 65 72, E Kofstad (Nor) 71 69 72, S O'Hara (Sco) 72 70 70, J Wahlqvist (Swe) 67 72 73, C Ford (Eng) 68 70 74, A Tadini (Ita) 71 72 69

213 C Paisley  (Eng) 69 74 70, M Ford (Eng) 72 68 73, M Lafeber (Ned) 70 69 74, V Riu  (Fra) 67 75 71, A Bernadet  (Fra) 69 72 72, A Hartø (Den) 69 72 72

214 F Fritsch  (Ger) 66 76 72, S Walker (Eng) 69 71 74, B An (Kor) 67 74 73

215 L Richard (Bel) 76 67 72, F De Vries  (Ned) 72 71 72, C Moriarty (Irl) 72 71 72

216 S Davis (Eng) 69 74 73, J Guerrier  (Fra) 68 73 75, N Dougherty  (Eng) 72 71 73, B Pastore (Ita) 69 71 76

217 P Dwyer (Eng) 71 71 75, C Gane (Eng) 70 71 76, E De La Riva  (Esp) 75 67 75

218 T Ferreira  (RSA) 75 68 75, B Ritthammer (Ger) 70 73 75

219 S Pinckney (USA) 71 72 76, A Ahokas (Fin) 72 70 77, A Hansen  (Den) 70 72 77

221 Å Nilsson (Swe) 67 75 79