CHARLIE FORD LEADS CHALLENGE TOUR IN FINLAND
DAVID LAW SHOOTS UNDER PAR - BUT
DROPS OUT OF TOP TEN!
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Charlie Ford takes a one-shot advantage into Sunday's final round of the Challenge Tour's Vacon Open in Finland but the four-under-par 67 on the Englishman's scorecard came nowhere close to describing a dramatic day in which he bounced back from a triple-bogey 8 to finish with back-to-back birdies.
Ford shares his surname with a famous automobile brand and it was certainly apt on a day when he took the scenic route to the top at the picturesque Kytäjä Golf, firing on all cylinders for the opening 12 holes before one car-crash hole knocked him off course.
That triple-bogey at the par five 14th meant the 29 year old fell one shot behind Mark Tullo, having led by four shots at one point, but he rallied to two closing birdies to earn the outright overnight lead.
The Leicester native, who had shared the overnight lead after round one, moved to 14 under par and while he was disappointed not to have opened up a wider gap at the top, he was over the moon with the round as a whole.
“I hit it unbelievably well all day,” said Ford, who won his maiden Challenge Tour back in 2010 at the Turkish Airlines Challenge.
“I was six under in those first 13 holes and I had chances to be more than that. It’s probably the best I’ve ever hit it over a long stretch of holes.
“Then I got to 14, hit a perfect drive to the middle of the fairway, could have gone right of the tree and tried to get on in two, but I decided to be sensible and lay up to the left.
“I lost that shot to the right, into the hazard and from there, maybe I tried to be a little too cute and go for it, but it took me three to get out of the hazard in the end. I knocked it up to 12 feet, put my first putt past and then missed the five-footer coming back.
“That shook me a little bit for a couple of holes, and I bogeyed the 16th, but there was a little walk to the 17th and I just tried my best to regroup. I knew there were two good chances coming in, if I could just trust myself again, and I hit four really good shots on the last two for two nice birdies.
“It was a nice comeback after what could have been a disastrous run. I was in complete cruise control, to have something so shocking happen I could have easily parred the last two and come back really disappointed.
“I felt I really showed some character there to bounce back and I definitely feel a lot better now than I could have done.”
Tullo, meanwhile, made a significant move on moving day and he will enter the final round one shot behind Ford on 13 under par courtesy of a six under par 65.
Pelle Edberg carded the round of the day as the Swede briefly threatened to make the magic number of 59, negotiating his first 15 holes in ten under par before a double-bogey at the eighth, his 17th, put paid to those hopes.
An eight under par 63, however, was enough to move him to 11 under par and just three shots off the lead, just behind Austria’s HP Bacher and Guillaume Cambis of France, who both carded level par 71s to share third place on 12 under.
Aberdeen's David Law shot his third sub-par round in a row - a one-under 70 - but so high is the standard of play on European's No 2 pro tour that he dropped down out of the top 10 to joint 14th on 204, only five shots off the lead.
Law could have done with the 66 which compatriot Wallace Booth had today - his second in three rounds. The Crieff man is joint 24th on 207
THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
Par 213 (3x71)
199 C Ford (Eng) 64 68 67
200 M Tullo (Chi) 68 67 65
201 H Bacher (Aut) 67 64 70, G Cambis (Fra) 65 66 70
202 P Edberg (Swe) 71 68 63, J Granberg (Fin) 67 67 68
203 J Huldahl (Den) 67 69 67, A Rota (Ita) 67 68 68, B An (SKor) 68 68 67, P Widegren (Swe) 68 65 70, C Shinkwin (Eng) 69 64 70, W Besseling (Ned) 68 65 70, C Russo (Fra) 69 68 66
204 D Law (Sco) 69 65 70, M Orrin (Eng) 71 64 69, A Hortal (Esp) 66 67 71
205 N Lemke (Swe) 68 66 71, P Figueiredo (Por) 70 67 68, Z Scotland (Eng) 70 66 69, M Lafeber (Ned) 67 72 66
206 J Rask (Swe) 72 66 68, R McGee (Irl) 69 67 70, M Glauert (Ger) 70 67 69
207 E Johansen (Nor) 70 68 69, T Linard (Fra) 67 69 71, W Booth (Sco) 66 75 66, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 70 70 67, E Myllymaki (am) (Fin) 69 68 70
208 C Brazillier (Fra) 73 68 67, M Haines (Eng) 71 67 70, W Harrold (Eng) 72 69 67, B Chapellan (Fra) 72 69 67, S Matus (Cze) 70 70 68, J Hiluta (Eng) 71 70 67, S Hutsby (Eng) 68 67 73, G Shaw (Nir) 68 69 71
209 S Hansen (Nor) 69 66 74, S Gros (Fra) 74 66 69, H Satama (Fin) 69 67 73, J Pastor (Esp) 70 70 69, P Oriol (Esp) 70 69 70, S Little (Eng) 70 69 70
210 B Virto (Esp) 67 72 71, M Trappel (Aut) 68 71 71, J Fahrbring (Swe) 72 69 69, P Dwyer (Eng) 67 70 73, M Ford (Eng) 69 70 71, N Ravano (Ita) 70 68 72, D Perrier (Fra) 68 71 71, D Kemmer (USA) 65 71 74, M Kuronen (am) (Fin) 69 71 70, K Kulokorpi (am) (Fin) 69 71 70
211 P McKechnie (Sco) 71 69 71, M Quiros (Esp) 71 67 73, P Maddy (Eng) 64 73 74, F Praegant (Aut) 71 69 71
212 S Brown (Eng) 70 70 72, A Björk (Swe) 69 70 73, J Edfors (Swe) 68 70 74, J Stalter (Fra) 68 73 71, B Parker (Eng) 72 69 71, B Evans (Eng) 69 72 71
213 R Russell (Sco) 71 70 72, O Farr (Wal) 73 68 72, S Maurits (Ned) 69 72 72
214 L Kennedy (Eng) 70 71 73, J Howarth (Eng) 71 69 74, P Roos (Fin) 68 73 73, J Kaske (Fin) 68 73 73, N Nissen (Den) 69 71 74
217 J Harrison (Eng) 72 69 76
218 J Camargo (Esp) 68 73 77
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
DROPS OUT OF TOP TEN!
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Charlie Ford takes a one-shot advantage into Sunday's final round of the Challenge Tour's Vacon Open in Finland but the four-under-par 67 on the Englishman's scorecard came nowhere close to describing a dramatic day in which he bounced back from a triple-bogey 8 to finish with back-to-back birdies.
Ford shares his surname with a famous automobile brand and it was certainly apt on a day when he took the scenic route to the top at the picturesque Kytäjä Golf, firing on all cylinders for the opening 12 holes before one car-crash hole knocked him off course.
That triple-bogey at the par five 14th meant the 29 year old fell one shot behind Mark Tullo, having led by four shots at one point, but he rallied to two closing birdies to earn the outright overnight lead.
The Leicester native, who had shared the overnight lead after round one, moved to 14 under par and while he was disappointed not to have opened up a wider gap at the top, he was over the moon with the round as a whole.
“I hit it unbelievably well all day,” said Ford, who won his maiden Challenge Tour back in 2010 at the Turkish Airlines Challenge.
“I was six under in those first 13 holes and I had chances to be more than that. It’s probably the best I’ve ever hit it over a long stretch of holes.
“Then I got to 14, hit a perfect drive to the middle of the fairway, could have gone right of the tree and tried to get on in two, but I decided to be sensible and lay up to the left.
“I lost that shot to the right, into the hazard and from there, maybe I tried to be a little too cute and go for it, but it took me three to get out of the hazard in the end. I knocked it up to 12 feet, put my first putt past and then missed the five-footer coming back.
“That shook me a little bit for a couple of holes, and I bogeyed the 16th, but there was a little walk to the 17th and I just tried my best to regroup. I knew there were two good chances coming in, if I could just trust myself again, and I hit four really good shots on the last two for two nice birdies.
“It was a nice comeback after what could have been a disastrous run. I was in complete cruise control, to have something so shocking happen I could have easily parred the last two and come back really disappointed.
“I felt I really showed some character there to bounce back and I definitely feel a lot better now than I could have done.”
Tullo, meanwhile, made a significant move on moving day and he will enter the final round one shot behind Ford on 13 under par courtesy of a six under par 65.
Pelle Edberg carded the round of the day as the Swede briefly threatened to make the magic number of 59, negotiating his first 15 holes in ten under par before a double-bogey at the eighth, his 17th, put paid to those hopes.
An eight under par 63, however, was enough to move him to 11 under par and just three shots off the lead, just behind Austria’s HP Bacher and Guillaume Cambis of France, who both carded level par 71s to share third place on 12 under.
Aberdeen's David Law shot his third sub-par round in a row - a one-under 70 - but so high is the standard of play on European's No 2 pro tour that he dropped down out of the top 10 to joint 14th on 204, only five shots off the lead.
Law could have done with the 66 which compatriot Wallace Booth had today - his second in three rounds. The Crieff man is joint 24th on 207
THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
Par 213 (3x71)
199 C Ford (Eng) 64 68 67
200 M Tullo (Chi) 68 67 65
201 H Bacher (Aut) 67 64 70, G Cambis (Fra) 65 66 70
202 P Edberg (Swe) 71 68 63, J Granberg (Fin) 67 67 68
203 J Huldahl (Den) 67 69 67, A Rota (Ita) 67 68 68, B An (SKor) 68 68 67, P Widegren (Swe) 68 65 70, C Shinkwin (Eng) 69 64 70, W Besseling (Ned) 68 65 70, C Russo (Fra) 69 68 66
204 D Law (Sco) 69 65 70, M Orrin (Eng) 71 64 69, A Hortal (Esp) 66 67 71
205 N Lemke (Swe) 68 66 71, P Figueiredo (Por) 70 67 68, Z Scotland (Eng) 70 66 69, M Lafeber (Ned) 67 72 66
206 J Rask (Swe) 72 66 68, R McGee (Irl) 69 67 70, M Glauert (Ger) 70 67 69
207 E Johansen (Nor) 70 68 69, T Linard (Fra) 67 69 71, W Booth (Sco) 66 75 66, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 70 70 67, E Myllymaki (am) (Fin) 69 68 70
208 C Brazillier (Fra) 73 68 67, M Haines (Eng) 71 67 70, W Harrold (Eng) 72 69 67, B Chapellan (Fra) 72 69 67, S Matus (Cze) 70 70 68, J Hiluta (Eng) 71 70 67, S Hutsby (Eng) 68 67 73, G Shaw (Nir) 68 69 71
209 S Hansen (Nor) 69 66 74, S Gros (Fra) 74 66 69, H Satama (Fin) 69 67 73, J Pastor (Esp) 70 70 69, P Oriol (Esp) 70 69 70, S Little (Eng) 70 69 70
210 B Virto (Esp) 67 72 71, M Trappel (Aut) 68 71 71, J Fahrbring (Swe) 72 69 69, P Dwyer (Eng) 67 70 73, M Ford (Eng) 69 70 71, N Ravano (Ita) 70 68 72, D Perrier (Fra) 68 71 71, D Kemmer (USA) 65 71 74, M Kuronen (am) (Fin) 69 71 70, K Kulokorpi (am) (Fin) 69 71 70
211 P McKechnie (Sco) 71 69 71, M Quiros (Esp) 71 67 73, P Maddy (Eng) 64 73 74, F Praegant (Aut) 71 69 71
212 S Brown (Eng) 70 70 72, A Björk (Swe) 69 70 73, J Edfors (Swe) 68 70 74, J Stalter (Fra) 68 73 71, B Parker (Eng) 72 69 71, B Evans (Eng) 69 72 71
213 R Russell (Sco) 71 70 72, O Farr (Wal) 73 68 72, S Maurits (Ned) 69 72 72
214 L Kennedy (Eng) 70 71 73, J Howarth (Eng) 71 69 74, P Roos (Fin) 68 73 73, J Kaske (Fin) 68 73 73, N Nissen (Den) 69 71 74
217 J Harrison (Eng) 72 69 76
218 J Camargo (Esp) 68 73 77
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Labels: CHALLENGE TOUR
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Saturday, August 16, 2014
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