CHALLENGE TOUR REPORT AND SCORES

McARTHUR'S 63 PUTS HIM INTO SHARE 

OF TOP SPOT IN 
BRITTANY


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The Challenge Tour's Open Blue Green Cotes d`Armor Bretagne is set for a fittingly thrilling finale with four men tied at the top of the leaderboard heading into the final round

Overnight leader Ross McGowan’s third round of level par 70 enabled what was at times a rabid chasing pack get their teeth into the Englishman’s lead, with Alessandro Tadini, Andrew McArthur (pictured above) and then Benjamin Hebert moving into a share of top spot on 11 under.
Tadini and McArthur produced the performances of the day, with respective scores of 62 and 63.
 seeing them charge to the top before Hebert’s 67 delighted the home crowd by adding the French tricolore to the flags of Italy, Scotland and England at the leaderboard’s summit.
McGowan – who turned in level par – birdied the tenth to give his third round a vital injection of adrenaline but a treble bogey seven on the par four 12th hole saw the Englishman slump down the leaderboard before three birdies and a bogey in his closing three holes saw him rise again.
“It was a good recovery after the treble on the 12th,” said McGowan. “I knew that a few of the guys were really coming at me and when I saw Alessandro and Andrew finish their rounds on 11 under I just wanted to try and get back onto the lead.
“I did that by birdieing 15, 16 and 17 but then unfortunately I bogeyed the last so I couldn’t keep my lead. But I am happy enough with how I recovered and I still have a great chance tomorrow.”
McGowan will play the final round in the company of Michael Lorenzo-Vera (-10) and Pedro Figueiredo (-9) and he is looking forward to the company of his old friend Lorenzo-Vera with whom he has shared many a tussle over the years.
“I played with Michael in the final round when I won the Madrid Masters on The European Tour in 2009 so hopefully he can bring me a bit of luck again,” smiled McGowan.
Lorenzo-Vera and Hebert will carry the hopes of the home crowd on their shoulders going into the final round at the beautiful Golf Blue Green de Pléneuf Val André.
Hebert, currently seventh in the Challenge Tour Rankings, is hoping victory on Sunday afternoon will mean one thing – he has secured a return to The European Tour
“If I can win tomorrow then I think my card for The European Tour would be secure for next year and that is a great incentive for me,” said Hebert. “I am in a great position to do it tomorrow and the game is in good shape just now so hopefully I can have another good round and win again.
Tadini and McArthur had similarly strong putting performances to leapfrog their way into contention.
Tadini, who is 32nd in the Challenge Tour Rankings, said: “The big difference today for me was putting. It is so important to putt well at this level, especially on the Challenge Tour, and after the first two rounds I had not putted great here. But today I was holing a lot of putts from between 6-15 feet and that made such a big difference to the card."
McArthur, currently 38th in the Rankings, added: “That was more like it – it’s amazing what holing a few putts can do for your position on the leaderboard. It wasn’t a brilliant performance from tee to green today but the putter was behaving itself
“I holed a lot of those six-eight foot putts either for pars or birdies and just really kept the momentum going that way which is great for the confidence. I have put myself in a good position for tomorrow but there are a lot of good players up there.
“It would be pretty big if I could get another win because we are getting to the stage of the season where you want to be moving up the Rankings quickly and getting as much money on the board as possible because anything can happen in the last few tournaments where there is big money on offer.”

THIRD-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 210 (3x70)
199 A Tadini (Ita) 68 69 62, R McGowan  (Eng) 67 62 70, B Hebert  (Fra) 66 66 67, A McArthur  (Sco) 67 69 63
200 M Lorenzo-Vera  (Fra) 68 65 67
201 P Figueiredo  (Por) 70 67 64
202 D Coupland (Eng) 64 67 71, J Lando Casanova  (Fra) 69 65 68, N Quintarelli (Ita) 66 69 67, P Dwyer (Eng) 67 65 70
203 L Nemecz (Aut) 66 71 66, H Joannes  (Bel) 64 70 69, R Coles (Eng) 68 66 69
204 C Hanson (Eng) 68 68 68, A Velasco (Esp) 69 69 66, L Jensen (Den) 74 64 66, E Espana (Fra) 68 68 68, M Ford (Eng) 69 66 69, C Aguilar  (Esp) 68 69 67, J Winther (Den) 67 67 70, B Evans  (Eng) 63 73 68, O Farr (Wal) 66 69 69
205 J Edfors (Swe) 67 69 69, J Roos (RSA) 66 70 69, J Sjöholm (Swe) 67 69 69, C Brazillier  (Fra) 69 71 65
206 R McEvoy  (Eng) 70 66 70, J Palmer (Eng) 68 71 67, J Fahrbring (Swe) 72 67 67, M Haines  (Eng) 68 69 69, D Vancsik (Arg) 70 66 70, M Rocchi  (Fra) 71 68 67
207 R Gouveia (Por) 64 74 69, N Joakimides (Fra) 69 67 71, E Johansen  (Nor) 67 67 73, M Trappel  (Aut) 71 67 69, C Ford (Eng) 68 65 74
208 S Arnold  (Aus) 68 71 69, J Rask (Swe) 69 70 69, D Perrier (Fra) 66 68 74, M Tullo (Chi) 66 70 72, D Law (Sco) 66 68 74, G Shaw (Nir) 67 71 70, B Stone (RSA) 65 73 70, J Doherty  (Sco) 64 73 71, A Bernadet  (Fra) 70 69 69, P Maddy (Eng) 68 67 73
209 A Marshall (Eng) 69 70 70, R Russell (Sco) 70 68 71, L Kennedy  (Eng) 71 69 69, D Kemmer (USA) 66 71 72, A Hortal  (Esp) 67 69 73
210 J Senior (Eng) 68 68 74, T Lawrence (RSA) 70 70 70, D Antonelli (Fra) 69 69 72, S Gros (Fra) 70 69 71, N Johansson (Swe) 70 69 71
211 J Stalter (Fra) 66 72 73, P Relecom  (Bel) 68 72 71,
212 R Davies (Wal) 69 71 72, C Arendell (USA) 71 69 72, D Gavins (Eng) 72 68 72, J Elson  (Eng) 68 70 74, D Bobrowski (Fra) 69 71 72
213 P Couvert (Fra) 69 71 73, A Dunbar (Nir) 68 70 75, G Woolgar (Eng) 67 73 73214 M Delpodio  (Ita) 70 69 75, K Subregis (am) (Fra) 74 66 74,
216 R Langasque (am) (Fra) 71 68 77

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