PAUL LAWRIE IN JOINT FIFTEENTH PLACE AFTER A 74
RICHIE RAMSAY IN THIRD PLACE WITH
A ROUND TO GO IN SPANISH OPEN
Belgium's Thomas Pieters, a graduate from the last European Tour Qualifying School, is two shots clear of the field in the Spanish Open with Sunday's round to come.
Pieters has shot 69, 69 and 71 for seven-under-par 209.
His nearest rival is the Spanish maestro, Miguel Angel Jimenez with rounds of 69, 73 and 69 for 211.
Aberdeen's Richie Ramsay is sharing third place on 212 with Aussie Richard Green and England's Chris Wood.
Ramsay's rounds have been 69, 72 and 71.
Fellow Aberdonian Paul Lawrie is T15 on 216 after rounds of 70, 72 and 74. Considering it is his first tournament for the best part of 3 1/2 months due to a neck problem, that's a good performance by Paul who was one under par for the day after 12 holes today.
Then he ran up a triple bogey 7 at the 13th followed by a bogey 4 at the short 16th. A birdie at 17 got him back in 38 and level par 36 for the front nine. Lawrie had four bogeys in all.
LEADER PIETERS LOOKING FORWARD
TO PLAYING WITH JIMENEZ
REPORT FROM EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Belgian Thomas Pieters will take a two- shot lead into the final round of the Open de España, with home favourite Miguel Angel Jiménez leading the chasing pack.
Pieters only turned professional in June last year and secured his European Tour card via the Qualifying School at this venue in November, aided by an opening round of 64.
The 22 year old said: "It was a solid day. I hit solid shots and really played to my strengths. I got two over par early just because my short game wasn't sharp enough but I took advantage of the par fives again today and the shots dropped in the end.
"I stayed really patient, you need to be on this course and I'm getting better and better at it. You know that it's going to be a hard day and an even par is a good score.
"I've always done well on really tough courses, I like grinding it out, not having to shoot six or seven under. Today I shot one under and I'm in the lead.
"I'm excited for tomorrow. I'll just go out to play golf, obviously playing for a win too.
"Playing with Jiménez will be fun, I'll get to learn a lot from him and I'll just soak it all in. I've never played with him or any of the big names. The crowd will also be bigger and all the support will go to him but I just have to play my own game."
Jiménez surged two clear of the field thanks to six birdies in his opening 13 holes at PGA Catalunya Resort, but bogeyed the 15th and 18th to card a third round of 69.
That left the 50 year old, who was fourth in the Masters Tournament last month and then won on his Champions Tour debut seven days later, on five under par and allowed overnight leader Pieters to reclaim top spot with birdies at the 15th and 16th in a round of 71.
"I'm a little disappointed with that," admitted Jiménez, who has no plans to switch to the seniors circuit as he chases a fifth Ryder Cup appearance at Gleneagles in September. "I didn't hit it very well the last few holes.
"I played very well the first nine holes and was solid until the 14th but made a bad bogey on the 15th where I three-putted from eight metres and also bogeyed the last."
Jiménez is already the oldest winner in European Tour history, beating his own record by winning the Hong Kong Open for a record fourth time at the age of 49 years and 337 days last December.
But despite 20 tournament victories to his credit the World Number 34 has never won his National Open and added: "It would be nice. I'd love to win the Spanish Open of course and we'll see what happens tomorrow."
Scotland's Richie Ramsay, England's Chris Wood and Australian left-hander Richard Green are three shots off the lead on four under, Ramsay holing a putt estimated at 100 feet on the eighth for one of his five birdies.
England's Ross Fisher is among a five-strong group on three under, the Tshwane Open winner carding a best-of-the-day 67 which included two eagles.
"I'm very pleased," Fisher said. "Starting the day two over par I wanted to get into red figures and I managed to do that.
"I played really well and the difference from yesterday to today was that I had the speed of the greens. Yesterday I really struggled, I felt the greens were a lot slower than they were on Thursday morning so I'm pleased to go out there and play a solid round of golf."
THIRD-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 216 (3x72)
209 Thomas Pieters (Belgium) 69 69 71
211 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) 69 73 69
212 Richie Ramsay (Scotland) 69 72 71, Richard Green (Australia) 74 69 69, Chris Wood (England) 73 70 69.
SELECTED SCORES
216 Paul Lawrie (Scotland) 70 72 74 (T15)
217 Marc Warren (Scotland) 75 70 72 (T26)
218 Eddie Pepperell (England) 68 71 79 (T33)
219 Craig Lee (Scotland) 73 75 71 (T41)
221 David Drysdale (Scotland) 74 71 76 (T62)
TO VIEW ALL THE THIRD-ROUND SCORES
CLICK HERE
A ROUND TO GO IN SPANISH OPEN
Belgium's Thomas Pieters, a graduate from the last European Tour Qualifying School, is two shots clear of the field in the Spanish Open with Sunday's round to come.
Pieters has shot 69, 69 and 71 for seven-under-par 209.
His nearest rival is the Spanish maestro, Miguel Angel Jimenez with rounds of 69, 73 and 69 for 211.
Aberdeen's Richie Ramsay is sharing third place on 212 with Aussie Richard Green and England's Chris Wood.
Ramsay's rounds have been 69, 72 and 71.
Fellow Aberdonian Paul Lawrie is T15 on 216 after rounds of 70, 72 and 74. Considering it is his first tournament for the best part of 3 1/2 months due to a neck problem, that's a good performance by Paul who was one under par for the day after 12 holes today.
Then he ran up a triple bogey 7 at the 13th followed by a bogey 4 at the short 16th. A birdie at 17 got him back in 38 and level par 36 for the front nine. Lawrie had four bogeys in all.
Pretty
much the same breeze as yesterday again made it tough to score
especially when you miss the greens as rough around them is brutal , I
went up to the course a little earlier than normal today to work on what
Jose Maria had mentioned last night about my putting which really
helped as I putted lovely all day , but typically I really struggled
with my iron play today . I shot 74+2 which was about right but I'm
still raging at playing the last 6 holes in four over par - See more
at: http://www.paullawriegolf.com/blog#sthash.rN1ps430.dpuf
Pretty
much the same breeze as yesterday again made it tough to score
especially when you miss the greens as rough around them is brutal , I
went up to the course a little earlier than normal today to work on what
Jose Maria had mentioned last night about my putting which really
helped as I putted lovely all day , but typically I really struggled
with my iron play today . I shot 74+2 which was about right but I'm
still raging at playing the last 6 holes in four over par - See more
at: http://www.paullawriegolf.com/blog#sthash.T3rNSOqK.dpuf
Oxfordshire's Eddie Pepperell plummeted down the leaderboard after following rounds of 68 and 71 with a 79 for 218 and a share of 33rd place.LEADER PIETERS LOOKING FORWARD
TO PLAYING WITH JIMENEZ
REPORT FROM EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Belgian Thomas Pieters will take a two- shot lead into the final round of the Open de España, with home favourite Miguel Angel Jiménez leading the chasing pack.
Pieters only turned professional in June last year and secured his European Tour card via the Qualifying School at this venue in November, aided by an opening round of 64.
The 22 year old said: "It was a solid day. I hit solid shots and really played to my strengths. I got two over par early just because my short game wasn't sharp enough but I took advantage of the par fives again today and the shots dropped in the end.
"I stayed really patient, you need to be on this course and I'm getting better and better at it. You know that it's going to be a hard day and an even par is a good score.
"I've always done well on really tough courses, I like grinding it out, not having to shoot six or seven under. Today I shot one under and I'm in the lead.
"I'm excited for tomorrow. I'll just go out to play golf, obviously playing for a win too.
"Playing with Jiménez will be fun, I'll get to learn a lot from him and I'll just soak it all in. I've never played with him or any of the big names. The crowd will also be bigger and all the support will go to him but I just have to play my own game."
Jiménez surged two clear of the field thanks to six birdies in his opening 13 holes at PGA Catalunya Resort, but bogeyed the 15th and 18th to card a third round of 69.
That left the 50 year old, who was fourth in the Masters Tournament last month and then won on his Champions Tour debut seven days later, on five under par and allowed overnight leader Pieters to reclaim top spot with birdies at the 15th and 16th in a round of 71.
"I'm a little disappointed with that," admitted Jiménez, who has no plans to switch to the seniors circuit as he chases a fifth Ryder Cup appearance at Gleneagles in September. "I didn't hit it very well the last few holes.
"I played very well the first nine holes and was solid until the 14th but made a bad bogey on the 15th where I three-putted from eight metres and also bogeyed the last."
Jiménez is already the oldest winner in European Tour history, beating his own record by winning the Hong Kong Open for a record fourth time at the age of 49 years and 337 days last December.
But despite 20 tournament victories to his credit the World Number 34 has never won his National Open and added: "It would be nice. I'd love to win the Spanish Open of course and we'll see what happens tomorrow."
Scotland's Richie Ramsay, England's Chris Wood and Australian left-hander Richard Green are three shots off the lead on four under, Ramsay holing a putt estimated at 100 feet on the eighth for one of his five birdies.
England's Ross Fisher is among a five-strong group on three under, the Tshwane Open winner carding a best-of-the-day 67 which included two eagles.
"I'm very pleased," Fisher said. "Starting the day two over par I wanted to get into red figures and I managed to do that.
"I played really well and the difference from yesterday to today was that I had the speed of the greens. Yesterday I really struggled, I felt the greens were a lot slower than they were on Thursday morning so I'm pleased to go out there and play a solid round of golf."
Thomas
Pieters will take a two shot lead into the final round of the Open de
España, with home favourite Miguel Angel Jiménez leading the chasing
pack.
Pieters only turned professional in June last year and secured his European Tour card via the Qualifying School at this venue in November, aided by an opening round of 64.
The 22 year old said: "It was a solid day. I hit solid shots and really played to my strengths. I got two over par early just because my short game wasn't sharp enough but I took advantage of the par fives again today and the shots dropped in the end.
"I stayed really patient, you need to be on this course and I'm getting better and better at it. You know that it's going to be a hard day and an even par is a good score.
"I've always done well on really tough courses, I like grinding it out, not having to shoot six or seven under. Today I shot one under and I'm in the lead.
"I'm excited for tomorrow. I'll just go out to play golf, obviously playing for a win too.
"Playing with Jiménez will be fun, I'll get to learn a lot from him and I'll just soak it all in. I've never played with him or any of the big names. The crowd will also be bigger and all the support will go to him but I just have to play my own game."
Jiménez surged two clear of the field thanks to six birdies in his opening 13 holes at PGA Catalunya Resort, but bogeyed the 15th and 18th to card a third round of 69.
That left the 50 year old, who was fourth in the Masters Tournament last month and then won on his Champions Tour debut seven days later, on five under par and allowed overnight leader Pieters to reclaim top spot with birdies at the 15th and 16th in a round of 71.
"I'm a little disappointed with that," admitted Jiménez, who has no plans to switch to the seniors circuit as he chases a fifth Ryder Cup appearance at Gleneagles in September. "I didn't hit it very well the last few holes.
"I played very well the first nine holes and was solid until the 14th but made a bad bogey on the 15th where I three-putted from eight metres and also bogeyed the last."
Jiménez is already the oldest winner in European Tour history, beating his own record by winning the Hong Kong Open for a record fourth time at the age of 49 years and 337 days last December.
But despite 20 tournament victories to his credit the World Number 34 has never won his National Open and added: "It would be nice. I'd love to win the Spanish Open of course and we'll see what happens tomorrow."
Scotland's Richie Ramsay, England's Chris Wood and Australian left-hander Richard Green are three shots off the lead on four under, Ramsay holing a putt estimated at 100 feet on the eighth for one of his five birdies.
England's Ross Fisher is among a five-strong group on three under, the Tshwane Open winner carding a best-of-the-day 67 which included two eagles.
"I'm very pleased," Fisher said. "Starting the day two over par I wanted to get into red figures and I managed to do that.
"I played really well and the difference from yesterday to today was that I had the speed of the greens. Yesterday I really struggled, I felt the greens were a lot slower than they were on Thursday morning so I'm pleased to go out there and play a solid round of golf."
Read more at http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2014/tournamentid=2014038/news/newsid=223195.html#8p0uAvULA2ss6duV.99
Pieters only turned professional in June last year and secured his European Tour card via the Qualifying School at this venue in November, aided by an opening round of 64.
The 22 year old said: "It was a solid day. I hit solid shots and really played to my strengths. I got two over par early just because my short game wasn't sharp enough but I took advantage of the par fives again today and the shots dropped in the end.
"I stayed really patient, you need to be on this course and I'm getting better and better at it. You know that it's going to be a hard day and an even par is a good score.
"I've always done well on really tough courses, I like grinding it out, not having to shoot six or seven under. Today I shot one under and I'm in the lead.
"I'm excited for tomorrow. I'll just go out to play golf, obviously playing for a win too.
"Playing with Jiménez will be fun, I'll get to learn a lot from him and I'll just soak it all in. I've never played with him or any of the big names. The crowd will also be bigger and all the support will go to him but I just have to play my own game."
Jiménez surged two clear of the field thanks to six birdies in his opening 13 holes at PGA Catalunya Resort, but bogeyed the 15th and 18th to card a third round of 69.
That left the 50 year old, who was fourth in the Masters Tournament last month and then won on his Champions Tour debut seven days later, on five under par and allowed overnight leader Pieters to reclaim top spot with birdies at the 15th and 16th in a round of 71.
"I'm a little disappointed with that," admitted Jiménez, who has no plans to switch to the seniors circuit as he chases a fifth Ryder Cup appearance at Gleneagles in September. "I didn't hit it very well the last few holes.
"I played very well the first nine holes and was solid until the 14th but made a bad bogey on the 15th where I three-putted from eight metres and also bogeyed the last."
Jiménez is already the oldest winner in European Tour history, beating his own record by winning the Hong Kong Open for a record fourth time at the age of 49 years and 337 days last December.
But despite 20 tournament victories to his credit the World Number 34 has never won his National Open and added: "It would be nice. I'd love to win the Spanish Open of course and we'll see what happens tomorrow."
Scotland's Richie Ramsay, England's Chris Wood and Australian left-hander Richard Green are three shots off the lead on four under, Ramsay holing a putt estimated at 100 feet on the eighth for one of his five birdies.
England's Ross Fisher is among a five-strong group on three under, the Tshwane Open winner carding a best-of-the-day 67 which included two eagles.
"I'm very pleased," Fisher said. "Starting the day two over par I wanted to get into red figures and I managed to do that.
"I played really well and the difference from yesterday to today was that I had the speed of the greens. Yesterday I really struggled, I felt the greens were a lot slower than they were on Thursday morning so I'm pleased to go out there and play a solid round of golf."
Read more at http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2014/tournamentid=2014038/news/newsid=223195.html#8p0uAvULA2ss6duV.99
Thomas
Pieters will take a two shot lead into the final round of the Open de
España, with home favourite Miguel Angel Jiménez leading the chasing
pack.
Pieters only turned professional in June last year and secured his European Tour card via the Qualifying School at this venue in November, aided by an opening round of 64.
The 22 year old said: "It was a solid day. I hit solid shots and really played to my strengths. I got two over par early just because my short game wasn't sharp enough but I took advantage of the par fives again today and the shots dropped in the end.
"I stayed really patient, you need to be on this course and I'm getting better and better at it. You know that it's going to be a hard day and an even par is a good score.
"I've always done well on really tough courses, I like grinding it out, not having to shoot six or seven under. Today I shot one under and I'm in the lead.
"I'm excited for tomorrow. I'll just go out to play golf, obviously playing for a win too.
"Playing with Jiménez will be fun, I'll get to learn a lot from him and I'll just soak it all in. I've never played with him or any of the big names. The crowd will also be bigger and all the support will go to him but I just have to play my own game."
Jiménez surged two clear of the field thanks to six birdies in his opening 13 holes at PGA Catalunya Resort, but bogeyed the 15th and 18th to card a third round of 69.
That left the 50 year old, who was fourth in the Masters Tournament last month and then won on his Champions Tour debut seven days later, on five under par and allowed overnight leader Pieters to reclaim top spot with birdies at the 15th and 16th in a round of 71.
"I'm a little disappointed with that," admitted Jiménez, who has no plans to switch to the seniors circuit as he chases a fifth Ryder Cup appearance at Gleneagles in September. "I didn't hit it very well the last few holes.
"I played very well the first nine holes and was solid until the 14th but made a bad bogey on the 15th where I three-putted from eight metres and also bogeyed the last."
Jiménez is already the oldest winner in European Tour history, beating his own record by winning the Hong Kong Open for a record fourth time at the age of 49 years and 337 days last December.
But despite 20 tournament victories to his credit the World Number 34 has never won his National Open and added: "It would be nice. I'd love to win the Spanish Open of course and we'll see what happens tomorrow."
Scotland's Richie Ramsay, England's Chris Wood and Australian left-hander Richard Green are three shots off the lead on four under, Ramsay holing a putt estimated at 100 feet on the eighth for one of his five birdies.
England's Ross Fisher is among a five-strong group on three under, the Tshwane Open winner carding a best-of-the-day 67 which included two eagles.
"I'm very pleased," Fisher said. "Starting the day two over par I wanted to get into red figures and I managed to do that.
"I played really well and the difference from yesterday to today was that I had the speed of the greens. Yesterday I really struggled, I felt the greens were a lot slower than they were on Thursday morning so I'm pleased to go out there and play a solid round of golf."
Read more at http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2014/tournamentid=2014038/news/newsid=223195.html#8p0uAvULA2ss6duV.99
Pieters only turned professional in June last year and secured his European Tour card via the Qualifying School at this venue in November, aided by an opening round of 64.
The 22 year old said: "It was a solid day. I hit solid shots and really played to my strengths. I got two over par early just because my short game wasn't sharp enough but I took advantage of the par fives again today and the shots dropped in the end.
"I stayed really patient, you need to be on this course and I'm getting better and better at it. You know that it's going to be a hard day and an even par is a good score.
"I've always done well on really tough courses, I like grinding it out, not having to shoot six or seven under. Today I shot one under and I'm in the lead.
"I'm excited for tomorrow. I'll just go out to play golf, obviously playing for a win too.
"Playing with Jiménez will be fun, I'll get to learn a lot from him and I'll just soak it all in. I've never played with him or any of the big names. The crowd will also be bigger and all the support will go to him but I just have to play my own game."
Jiménez surged two clear of the field thanks to six birdies in his opening 13 holes at PGA Catalunya Resort, but bogeyed the 15th and 18th to card a third round of 69.
That left the 50 year old, who was fourth in the Masters Tournament last month and then won on his Champions Tour debut seven days later, on five under par and allowed overnight leader Pieters to reclaim top spot with birdies at the 15th and 16th in a round of 71.
"I'm a little disappointed with that," admitted Jiménez, who has no plans to switch to the seniors circuit as he chases a fifth Ryder Cup appearance at Gleneagles in September. "I didn't hit it very well the last few holes.
"I played very well the first nine holes and was solid until the 14th but made a bad bogey on the 15th where I three-putted from eight metres and also bogeyed the last."
Jiménez is already the oldest winner in European Tour history, beating his own record by winning the Hong Kong Open for a record fourth time at the age of 49 years and 337 days last December.
But despite 20 tournament victories to his credit the World Number 34 has never won his National Open and added: "It would be nice. I'd love to win the Spanish Open of course and we'll see what happens tomorrow."
Scotland's Richie Ramsay, England's Chris Wood and Australian left-hander Richard Green are three shots off the lead on four under, Ramsay holing a putt estimated at 100 feet on the eighth for one of his five birdies.
England's Ross Fisher is among a five-strong group on three under, the Tshwane Open winner carding a best-of-the-day 67 which included two eagles.
"I'm very pleased," Fisher said. "Starting the day two over par I wanted to get into red figures and I managed to do that.
"I played really well and the difference from yesterday to today was that I had the speed of the greens. Yesterday I really struggled, I felt the greens were a lot slower than they were on Thursday morning so I'm pleased to go out there and play a solid round of golf."
Read more at http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2014/tournamentid=2014038/news/newsid=223195.html#8p0uAvULA2ss6duV.99
homas
Pieters will take a two shot lead into the final round of the Open de
España, with home favourite Miguel Angel Jiménez leading the chasing
pack.
Jiménez surged two clear of the field thanks to six birdies in his opening 13 holes at PGA Catalunya Resort, but bogeyed the 15th and 18th to card a third round of 69.
That left the 50 year old, who was fourth in the Masters Tournament last month and then won on his Champions Tour debut seven days later, on five under par and allowed overnight leader Pieters to reclaim top spot with birdies at the 15th and 16th in a round of 71. Pieters only turned professional in June last year and secured his European Tour card via the Qualifying School at this venue in November, aided by an opening round of 64.
The 22 year old said: "It was a solid day. I hit solid shots and really played to my strengths. I got two over par early just because my short game wasn't sharp enough but I took advantage of the par fives again today and the shots dropped in the end.
"I stayed really patient, you need to be on this course and I'm getting better and better at it. You know that it's going to be a hard day and an even par is a good score.
"I've always done well on really tough courses, I like grinding it out, not having to shoot six or seven under. Today I shot one under and I'm in the lead.
"I'm excited for tomorrow. I'll just go out to play golf, obviously playing for a win too.
"Playing with Jiménez will be fun, I'll get to learn a lot from him and I'll just soak it all in. I've never played with him or any of the big names. The crowd will also be bigger and all the support will go to him but I just have to play my own game."
"I'm a little disappointed with that," admitted Jiménez, who has no
plans to switch to the seniors circuit as he chases a fifth Ryder Cup
appearance at Gleneagles in September. "I didn't hit it very well the
last few holes.
"I played very well the first nine holes and was solid until the 14th but made a bad bogey on the 15th where I three-putted from eight metres and also bogeyed the last."
Jiménez is already the oldest winner in European Tour history, beating his own record by winning the Hong Kong Open for a record fourth time at the age of 49 years and 337 days last December.
But despite 20 tournament victories to his credit the World Number 34 has never won his National Open and added: "It would be nice. I'd love to win the Spanish Open of course and we'll see what happens tomorrow."
Scotland's Richie Ramsay, England's Chris Wood and Australian left-hander Richard Green are three shots off the lead on four under, Ramsay holing a putt estimated at 100 feet on the eighth for one of his five birdies.
England's Ross Fisher is among a five-strong group on three under, the Tshwane Open winner carding a best-of-the-day 67 which included two eagles.
"I'm very pleased," Fisher said. "Starting the day two over par I wanted to get into red figures and I managed to do that.
"I played really well and the difference from yesterday to today was that I had the speed of the greens. Yesterday I really struggled, I felt the greens were a lot slower than they were on Thursday morning so I'm pleased to go out there and play a solid round of golf."
Read more at http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2014/tournamentid=2014038/news/newsid=223195.html#uBT8ljpbrCwhMsJs.99
Jiménez surged two clear of the field thanks to six birdies in his opening 13 holes at PGA Catalunya Resort, but bogeyed the 15th and 18th to card a third round of 69.
That left the 50 year old, who was fourth in the Masters Tournament last month and then won on his Champions Tour debut seven days later, on five under par and allowed overnight leader Pieters to reclaim top spot with birdies at the 15th and 16th in a round of 71. Pieters only turned professional in June last year and secured his European Tour card via the Qualifying School at this venue in November, aided by an opening round of 64.
The 22 year old said: "It was a solid day. I hit solid shots and really played to my strengths. I got two over par early just because my short game wasn't sharp enough but I took advantage of the par fives again today and the shots dropped in the end.
"I stayed really patient, you need to be on this course and I'm getting better and better at it. You know that it's going to be a hard day and an even par is a good score.
"I've always done well on really tough courses, I like grinding it out, not having to shoot six or seven under. Today I shot one under and I'm in the lead.
"I'm excited for tomorrow. I'll just go out to play golf, obviously playing for a win too.
"Playing with Jiménez will be fun, I'll get to learn a lot from him and I'll just soak it all in. I've never played with him or any of the big names. The crowd will also be bigger and all the support will go to him but I just have to play my own game."
"I played very well the first nine holes and was solid until the 14th but made a bad bogey on the 15th where I three-putted from eight metres and also bogeyed the last."
Jiménez is already the oldest winner in European Tour history, beating his own record by winning the Hong Kong Open for a record fourth time at the age of 49 years and 337 days last December.
But despite 20 tournament victories to his credit the World Number 34 has never won his National Open and added: "It would be nice. I'd love to win the Spanish Open of course and we'll see what happens tomorrow."
Scotland's Richie Ramsay, England's Chris Wood and Australian left-hander Richard Green are three shots off the lead on four under, Ramsay holing a putt estimated at 100 feet on the eighth for one of his five birdies.
England's Ross Fisher is among a five-strong group on three under, the Tshwane Open winner carding a best-of-the-day 67 which included two eagles.
"I'm very pleased," Fisher said. "Starting the day two over par I wanted to get into red figures and I managed to do that.
"I played really well and the difference from yesterday to today was that I had the speed of the greens. Yesterday I really struggled, I felt the greens were a lot slower than they were on Thursday morning so I'm pleased to go out there and play a solid round of golf."
Read more at http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2014/tournamentid=2014038/news/newsid=223195.html#uBT8ljpbrCwhMsJs.99
homas
Pieters will take a two shot lead into the final round of the Open de
España, with home favourite Miguel Angel Jiménez leading the chasing
pack.
Jiménez surged two clear of the field thanks to six birdies in his opening 13 holes at PGA Catalunya Resort, but bogeyed the 15th and 18th to card a third round of 69.
That left the 50 year old, who was fourth in the Masters Tournament last month and then won on his Champions Tour debut seven days later, on five under par and allowed overnight leader Pieters to reclaim top spot with birdies at the 15th and 16th in a round of 71. Pieters only turned professional in June last year and secured his European Tour card via the Qualifying School at this venue in November, aided by an opening round of 64.
The 22 year old said: "It was a solid day. I hit solid shots and really played to my strengths. I got two over par early just because my short game wasn't sharp enough but I took advantage of the par fives again today and the shots dropped in the end.
"I stayed really patient, you need to be on this course and I'm getting better and better at it. You know that it's going to be a hard day and an even par is a good score.
"I've always done well on really tough courses, I like grinding it out, not having to shoot six or seven under. Today I shot one under and I'm in the lead.
"I'm excited for tomorrow. I'll just go out to play golf, obviously playing for a win too.
"Playing with Jiménez will be fun, I'll get to learn a lot from him and I'll just soak it all in. I've never played with him or any of the big names. The crowd will also be bigger and all the support will go to him but I just have to play my own game."
"I'm a little disappointed with that," admitted Jiménez, who has no
plans to switch to the seniors circuit as he chases a fifth Ryder Cup
appearance at Gleneagles in September. "I didn't hit it very well the
last few holes.
"I played very well the first nine holes and was solid until the 14th but made a bad bogey on the 15th where I three-putted from eight metres and also bogeyed the last."
Jiménez is already the oldest winner in European Tour history, beating his own record by winning the Hong Kong Open for a record fourth time at the age of 49 years and 337 days last December.
But despite 20 tournament victories to his credit the World Number 34 has never won his National Open and added: "It would be nice. I'd love to win the Spanish Open of course and we'll see what happens tomorrow."
Scotland's Richie Ramsay, England's Chris Wood and Australian left-hander Richard Green are three shots off the lead on four under, Ramsay holing a putt estimated at 100 feet on the eighth for one of his five birdies.
England's Ross Fisher is among a five-strong group on three under, the Tshwane Open winner carding a best-of-the-day 67 which included two eagles.
"I'm very pleased," Fisher said. "Starting the day two over par I wanted to get into red figures and I managed to do that.
"I played really well and the difference from yesterday to today was that I had the speed of the greens. Yesterday I really struggled, I felt the greens were a lot slower than they were on Thursday morning so I'm pleased to go out there and play a solid round of golf."
Read more at http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2014/tournamentid=2014038/news/newsid=223195.html#uBT8ljpbrCwhMsJs.99
Jiménez surged two clear of the field thanks to six birdies in his opening 13 holes at PGA Catalunya Resort, but bogeyed the 15th and 18th to card a third round of 69.
That left the 50 year old, who was fourth in the Masters Tournament last month and then won on his Champions Tour debut seven days later, on five under par and allowed overnight leader Pieters to reclaim top spot with birdies at the 15th and 16th in a round of 71. Pieters only turned professional in June last year and secured his European Tour card via the Qualifying School at this venue in November, aided by an opening round of 64.
The 22 year old said: "It was a solid day. I hit solid shots and really played to my strengths. I got two over par early just because my short game wasn't sharp enough but I took advantage of the par fives again today and the shots dropped in the end.
"I stayed really patient, you need to be on this course and I'm getting better and better at it. You know that it's going to be a hard day and an even par is a good score.
"I've always done well on really tough courses, I like grinding it out, not having to shoot six or seven under. Today I shot one under and I'm in the lead.
"I'm excited for tomorrow. I'll just go out to play golf, obviously playing for a win too.
"Playing with Jiménez will be fun, I'll get to learn a lot from him and I'll just soak it all in. I've never played with him or any of the big names. The crowd will also be bigger and all the support will go to him but I just have to play my own game."
"I played very well the first nine holes and was solid until the 14th but made a bad bogey on the 15th where I three-putted from eight metres and also bogeyed the last."
Jiménez is already the oldest winner in European Tour history, beating his own record by winning the Hong Kong Open for a record fourth time at the age of 49 years and 337 days last December.
But despite 20 tournament victories to his credit the World Number 34 has never won his National Open and added: "It would be nice. I'd love to win the Spanish Open of course and we'll see what happens tomorrow."
Scotland's Richie Ramsay, England's Chris Wood and Australian left-hander Richard Green are three shots off the lead on four under, Ramsay holing a putt estimated at 100 feet on the eighth for one of his five birdies.
England's Ross Fisher is among a five-strong group on three under, the Tshwane Open winner carding a best-of-the-day 67 which included two eagles.
"I'm very pleased," Fisher said. "Starting the day two over par I wanted to get into red figures and I managed to do that.
"I played really well and the difference from yesterday to today was that I had the speed of the greens. Yesterday I really struggled, I felt the greens were a lot slower than they were on Thursday morning so I'm pleased to go out there and play a solid round of golf."
Read more at http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2014/tournamentid=2014038/news/newsid=223195.html#uBT8ljpbrCwhMsJs.99
THIRD-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 216 (3x72)
209 Thomas Pieters (Belgium) 69 69 71
211 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) 69 73 69
212 Richie Ramsay (Scotland) 69 72 71, Richard Green (Australia) 74 69 69, Chris Wood (England) 73 70 69.
SELECTED SCORES
216 Paul Lawrie (Scotland) 70 72 74 (T15)
217 Marc Warren (Scotland) 75 70 72 (T26)
218 Eddie Pepperell (England) 68 71 79 (T33)
219 Craig Lee (Scotland) 73 75 71 (T41)
221 David Drysdale (Scotland) 74 71 76 (T62)
TO VIEW ALL THE THIRD-ROUND SCORES
CLICK HERE
Pretty
much the same breeze as yesterday again made it tough to score
especially when you miss the greens as rough around them is brutal , I
went up to the course a little earlier than normal today to work on what
Jose Maria had mentioned last night about my putting which really
helped as I putted lovely all day , but typically I really struggled
with my iron play today . I shot 74+2 which was about right but I'm
still raging at playing the last 6 holes in four over par - See more
at: http://www.paullawriegolf.com/blog#sthash.rN1ps430.dpuf
Labels: EUROPRO TOUR
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Saturday, May 17, 2014
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