Richie Ramsay three off Irish Open lead
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Søren Kjeldsen will take a two-shot lead into the final round of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open hosted by the Rory Foundation – hoping that a little bit of local knowledge will see him claim his fourth European Tour title.
The 40 year old carded a third-round 67 in testing conditions on the majestic Royal County Down Links at Newcastle, Northern Ireland for a seven under par total of 206 to move clear of Germany’s Max Kieffer, whose six under par 65 set a new course record for the revered links of Royal County Down, and Spain’s Rafa Cabrera-Bello who posted a 69.
Three players – England’s Tyrrell Hatton, Aberdeen’s Richie Ramsay and Bernd Wiesberger of Austria shared fourth place on four under par 209 after all carding 70s, but the man they all have to catch is Kjeldsen, who exhibited the same kind of consistency which saw him finish in the top 70 on The European Tour for 15 consecutive seasons between 1999 and 2013.
The diminutive Dane is staying with friends from the County Down area this week and revealed he had played the golf course in the past when on a social visit. 
“Although some of the lines obviously change for a tournament set-up, I did remember quite a bit of the golf course when I got back here this week. It’s definitely helped,” he said.
Kjeldsen’s lead could have been even greater had he not dropped shots at both the closing holes, but in the demanding winds they proved to be two of the toughest tests on the entire golf course
Nowhere was that more conclusively proved than by American Rickie Fowler who was within sight of the lead entering the stretch at two under par, but ended it way down the field on five over after finishing with two eights – a quadruple bogey at the 17th and a triple bogey at the last.
For Kjeldsen, however, everything else was flawless as he carded six birdies without loss in the first 16 holes of his round, including three in a row from the 11th.
Player Quotes:
Søren Kjeldsen (69-70-67 = 206 -7)
“It was a great day from me.  I played terrific all day, and you know, the two bogeys, I hit a bad tee shot on 17.  After that I played the hole really well and 18, I thought I played that beautifully and made six.  It was so windy.  I'll focus on the first 16 holes because I played beautifully and didn't do much wrong on the last two, so I feel good. I can only control what I do and I'm going to head to the range and hit a few shots and do my thing and I'll come out hopefully doing the same thing tomorrow. 
Max Kieffer (67-76-65 = 208 -5)
“I played quite a lot on links as an amateur but on The European Tour, we don't play that much.  But I enjoy it. You need to think a little bit about it and it's nice to have something different from every other week. The crowds are great and it's great fun to play in front of them on a great golf course. I think it's going to be a very fun, challenging day tomorrow.”
Rafa Cabrera-Bello (71-68-69 = 208 -5)
“I know that when I’m on my game, I can play really well. Even though my scores were not happening throughout the year, I do feel I've been playing well and hitting the ball well. So I was excited to be here.  I've really enjoyed it and hopefully I’ll keep enjoying it tomorrow.”
THIRD-ROUND SCORES
206 S Kjeldsen (Den) 69 70 67
208 R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 71 68 69, M Kieffer (Ger) 67 76 65
209 R Ramsay  (Sco) 72 67 70, T Hatton (Eng) 73 66 70, B Wiesberger  (Aut) 72 67 70
211 N Fasth (Swe) 71 73 67
212 A Wall (Eng) 72 71 69, L Donald  (Eng) 70 70 72, L Bjerregaard  (Den) 73 73 66, J Roos (RSA) 75 69 68
213 A Sullivan (Eng) 74 70 69, M Fitzpatrick  (Eng) 71 72 70, B An (SKor) 75 71 67, B Dredge (Wal) 72 70 71, E Pepperell (Eng) 74 72 67,
214 R Green (Aus) 72 72 70, C Wood  (Eng) 70 69 75, J Parry (Eng) 72 70 72, D Fichardt (RSA) 76 71 67, A Noren  (Swe) 73 74 67,
215 J Van Zyl (RSA) 73 74 68, T Fleetwood  (Eng) 71 75 69,
216 T Jaidee (Tha) 72 74 70, G McDowell  (Nir) 72 75 69, D Willett  (Eng) 69 76 71, P McGinley (Irl) 72 73 71,
217 J Barnes (Eng) 75 72 70, M Carlsson  (Swe) 72 72 73, S Lowry  (Irl) 72 74 71, E Grillo (Arg) 69 75 73, T Aiken (RSA) 73 72 72, M Lampert (Ger) 76 71 70, J Kruger (RSA) 73 73 71, S Benson (Eng) 74 71 72
218 M Nixon (Eng) 77 70 71, M Jiménez (Esp) 72 72 74, S Hend (Aus) 73 74 71, R Fowler  (USA) 71 71 76, M Ford (Eng) 70 71 77, T Lewis (Eng) 74 71 73, R Gonzalez (Arg) 76 67 75, S Jamieson  (Sco) 73 72 73, L Slattery (Eng) 72 73 73, P Harrington (Irl) 67 73 78, S Thornton (Irl) 71 76 71, A Dodt (Aus) 73 73 72, F Aguilar (Chi) 74 71 73,
219 A Hansen (Den) 70 73 76, D Clarke (Nir) 75 72 72, F Zanotti (Par) 72 74 73, T Fisher Jnr (RSA) 70 74 75, R Fisher (Eng) 74 71 74, R Wattel  (Fra) 74 72 73,
220 M Tullo (Chi) 74 72 74, R Karlberg  (Swe) 70 76 74, M Foster (Eng) 77 70 73, M Fraser (Aus) 73 73 74, P Uihlein  (USA) 72 74 74, L Westwood (Eng) 74 72 74,
222 R McEvoy  (Eng) 71 72 79, E Els (RSA) 71 73 78, R Bland (Eng) 75 72 75,
223 S Hansen (Den) 68 76 79, F Molinari (Ita) 71 73 79, G Bourdy (Fra) 73 74 76,
224 S Webster (Eng) 72 74 78,
225 B Hebert  (Fra) 75 72 78,
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS