MICHAEL HOEY GOES CLEAR WITH A THIRD-ROUND 65

RUSSIAN OPEN REPORT

From EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

Michael Hoey put himself in a great position to secure a fifth European Tour title as the Northern Irishman produced a brilliant third-round 65 to establish a five stroke lead at the M2M Russian Open. 

Opening rounds of 70 and 67 had left him one behind at the halfway stage, with the 34 year old talking of his need to cut out the mistakes from his game in order to challenge over the weekend.

And he did that in style, carding six birdies, one bogey and an eagle at the par five eighth as he produced the best round of the week at the Tseleevo Golf and Polo Club.

The seven under par round left Hoey, whose last success came at last year’s Trophée Hassan II, a 14 under par total and five shot lead with one round remaining.

Overnight leader Rikard Karlberg and England’s Matthew Nixon are tied for second on nine under, the former recovering from four early dropped shots to post a level par 72 while Nixon carded a bogey-free 68.

But the day belonged to Hoey, who was delighted to establish a five stroke advantage with 18 holes to play.

“It was one of those days where everything went my way for the most part,” said Hoey. “I played really well and was swinging the club well, but I got a few breaks here and there that really helped the score.

“I holed a 70 foot putt on the ninth for example – that’s was probably the biggest break I had out there. You just don’t really expect to hole those ones so that was a bit of a bonus.

“I am making a lot of putts this week and that is always the difference at this level. It’s all about putting.

“Obviously I have a good lead but you just can’t take it for granted. Things went my way today but it might be someone else’s day tomorrow. I am just going to go out there and try to enjoy it. I have been in positions to win before and finished it off and that will help a bit, but you still need to hit the shots and hole the putts.”

THIRD-ROUND TOTALS

  par 216 (3x72)

202 M Hoey  (Nir) 70 67 65

207 R Karlberg  (Swe) 67 68 72, M Nixon (Eng) 69 70 68

208 A Kaleka  (Fra) 70 67 71, J Kingston (RSA) 71 69 68

209 M Korhonen (Fin) 69 70 70, J Hansen  (Den) 72 70 67, J Morrison  (Eng) 68 71 70

210 M Foster (Eng) 69 69 72, M Baldwin (Eng) 68 69 73, J Campillo (Esp) 72 71 67

211 J Gonnet  (Fra) 70 71 70, G Lockerbie  (Eng) 72 70 69, O Floren  (Swe) 76 69 66, C Paisley  (Eng) 72 71 68,

212 L Wen-Chong (Chn) 67 70 75, T Pilkadaris (Aus) 71 71 70, G Havret  (Fra) 72 70 70, M Carlsson  (Swe) 71 72 69, S Dyson  (Eng) 67 74 71, M Delpodio  (Ita) 69 74 69,

213 M Lafeber (Ned) 69 73 71, D Horsey (Eng) 70 72 71, S Hend (Aus) 70 69 74,

214 A Tadini (Ita) 68 73 73, S Hansen (Den) 77 67 70, J Singh (Ind) 71 71 72, M Tullo (Chi) 74 69 71, N Floren (Swe) 71 75 68, J Elson  (Eng) 71 71 72, R McEvoy  (Eng) 74 71 69,

215 S Wakefield (Eng) 73 68 74, D Gaunt (Aus) 70 72 73, A Levy (Fra) 72 72 71, S Little (Eng) 69 72 74, J Roos (RSA) 70 71 74, M Campbell (Nzl) 70 73 72

216 G Bhullar (Ind) 74 73 69, S Chowrasia (Ind) 72 72 72, R Finch  (Eng) 73 74 69, J Lagergren (Swe) 74 74 68, R Wattel  (Fra) 72 72 72, A Snobeck  (Fra) 70 73 73, C Lloyd (Eng) 71 73 72

217 A Hartø  (Den) 70 71 76, P Hedblom (Swe) 73 74 70, H Porteous (RSA) 71 76 70, E Kofstad (Nor) 74 73 70, J Sjöholm (Swe) 78 69 70

218 M Wiegele  (Aut) 72 72 74, G Shaw (Nir) 71 77 70, D Higgins (Irl) 71 71 76, P Meesawat  (Tha) 71 74 73

219 S Henry  (Sco) 73 73 73, O Bekker (RSA) 74 71 74

220 J Maurer  (Aut) 71 74 75, T Van Der Walt (RSA) 73 71 76, T Lewis (Eng) 71 74 75, A Forsyth (Sco) 74 73 73

222 M Southgate  (Eng) 73 74 75, P Martin Benavides (Esp) 70 77 75

223 D Brooks (Eng) 77 71 75, J Colomo  (Esp) 68 79 76

224 A Lahiri (Ind) 78 70 76, T Fleetwood  (Eng) 72 76 76, J Singh Brar (am) (Eng) 77 66 81

225 C Macaulay  (Sco) 72 76 77

227 S Garcia (Esp) 75 71 81