STUART MANLEY LEADS BY TWO IN FINNISH CHALLENGE
REPORT FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Stuart
Manley equalled the course record to take a two shot lead into the
final day of the Finnish Challenge as an eight under par 64 put him in
the driving seat for a maiden European Challenge
Tour title at Kytäjä Golf.
The
Welshman entered the day three shots off Brandon Stone’s lead but eight
birdies in a flawless round meant he overhauled that deficit and then
some and will play alongside Stone and Jens
Fahrbring, both two shots back in 16 under, on Championship Sunday.
The
34 year old started with a par but his round caught fire thereafter as
he recorded three birdies on the trot from the second hole before two
more, at the seventh and ninth, took him to the
turn in five under.
He pulled clear of the chasing pack as he picked up shots at the tenth and 12th before holing a 40-foot putt for birdie at the 15th
to move him to 18 under. The former
Walker Cup player is relishing the opportunity to claim a first title,
having been in position to do so a number of times before.
“It
was really enjoyable out there,” he said. “The company with Jens and
Duncan (Stewart) was great. I played with Jens in the opening two days
too and he is a good lad. We had some good banter
on the course so that makes the round a lot more enjoyable.
“I
think I had 25 putts today, at least Duncan told me that on the last
hole, he was obviously counting! He couldn’t believe some of the putts I
was holing today and there was a lot of distance
to add to that, I holed some big ones so that was nice.
“There
were a lot of ten and 12-footers I holed out there too and I made some
good par saves. I think the sun will be out on the final day and I play
better in the sun. The crowds are great
and the course is good so I'm looking forward to it.
“I've
been in this position a few times before and I just need to go for it. I
need to play well and move up the Rankings and think about the bigger
picture. I need to go out there and be positive
and if I do that I can’t do any more.”
Manley
will play alongside Fahrbring, who carded a six under par 66, for the
fourth day running as they battle it out in the final group alongside
young South African Brandon Stone, whose 69
left him in tied second with the Swede on 16 under.
Daan
Huizing is another young gun hoping to claim a first title after the
Dutchman set the course record of 64 – later equalled by Manley – to
move into tied fourth place, four shots off the
lead, alongside Portugal’s José-Filipe Lima and Swede Niklas Lemke.
THIRD ROUND TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72)
198 S Manley (Wal) 65 69 64
200 B Stone (RSA) 65 66 69, J Fahrbring (Swe) 65 69 66,
202 N Lemke (Swe) 64 68 70, D Huizing (Ned) 67 71 64, J Lima (Por) 68 68 66,
203 D Stewart (Sco) 65 68 70
204 A Johnston (Eng) 68 68 68, S Hutsby (Eng) 69 66 69, J Elson (Eng) 67 67 70, T Hatton (Eng) 65 70 69,
205 L Kennedy (Eng) 67 65 73, J McLeary (Sco) 69 69 67, F Calmels (Fra) 68 71 66, R Kakko (Fin) 66 68 71
206 D Brooks (Eng) 68 70 68, E Myllymaki (am) (Fin) 66 70 70,
207 C Kim (USA) 66 71 70, K Borsheim (Nor) 67 71
69, B Ritthammer (Ger) 68 70 69, L Bjerregaard (Den) 69 69 69, W
Besseling (Ned) 66 70 71, J Guerrier (Fra) 66 70 71,
208 D Im (USA) 70 72 66, J Barnes (Eng) 69 69 70, B Chapellan (Fra) 69 70 69, A Ahokas (Fin) 68 70 70, M Tullo (Chi) 66 76 66
209 M Korhonen (Fin) 71 71 67, G Cambis (Fra) 69
72 68, D Geminiani (Ita) 68 72 69, B Hebert (Fra) 72 67 70, R Davies
(Wal) 69 68 72, O Bekker (RSA) 69 69 71, E Espana (Fra) 70 70 69,
210 P Widegren (Swe) 70 71 69, L Goddard (Eng) 67 73 70, J Kaske (Fin) 71 68 71, C Pigem (Esp) 70 71 69,
211 R Prophet (Eng) 71 67 73, J Carlsson (Swe) 72
68 71, A Hortal (Esp) 68 72 71, D Ulrich (Sui) 70 69 72, R Dinwiddie
(Eng) 68 72 71
212 C Aguilar (Esp) 69 73 70, D Perrier (Fra) 70 72 70, V Riu (Fra) 71 71 70, S Kapur (Ind) 70 71 71
213 S Little (Eng) 68 72 73, P Maddy (Eng) 68 73
72, M Trappel (Aut) 70 71 72, E Bertheussen (Nor) 69 73 71, M Ford
(Eng) 70 70 73, A Domingo (Esp) 71 70 72, A Pavan (Ita) 69 73 71, J
Garcia Pinto (Esp) 74 67 72, J Granberg (Fin) 69 72
72
214 N Ravano (Ita) 71 69 74, R Saxton (Ned) 68 74
72, N Dougherty (Eng) 70 72 72, R Steiner (Aut) 68 74 72, A Otaegui
(Esp) 71 70 73, M Kuronen (am) (Fin) 69 71 74
215 T Pieters (Bel) 69 68 78, H Porteous (RSA) 71 71 73, A Eckhardt (am) (Fin) 72 68 75
216 H Satama (Fin) 70 72 74, S Piaget (Mon) 71 71 74, A McArthur (Sco) 70 71 75
217 K Samooja (Fin) 72 70 75, P Archer (Eng) 70 71 76, G Shaw (Nir) 68 72 77
218 P Oriol (Esp) 71 71 76
219 A Velasco (Esp) 67 70 82
220 J Glennemo (Swe) 71 71 78
221 S Kim (Kor) 64 73 84, P Erofejeff (Fin) 67 75 79
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Wentworth Drive | Virginia Water | Surrey | GU25 4LX | UNITED KINGDOMLabels: CHALLENGE TOUR
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