Sunday 8am shotgun start in Portugal Masters

Sullivan leads by five with 22-under-par tally

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Andy Sullivan will carry a five-stroke advantage into the last round of the Portugal Masters as the Englishman seeks a third European Tour title of the season.
A shotgun start was used for round three due to the threat of adverse weather later in the day and, whilst the rain and storms largely stayed away in the morning, the wind was playing havoc with birdies far harder to come by than on the first two days.
That did not adversely affect Sullivan, however, who carded a superb round of 67 to move to 18 under par, five shots ahead of Spaniard Eduardo de la Riva.
With further bad weather forecast for Sunday, there will be another 8am shotgun start as Sullivan attempts to add to The South African Open Championship Hosted by the City of Ekurhuleni and the Joburg Open titles he won earlier in the year.
De La Riva closed with three successive birdies to take second place on 13 under par, two shots clear of his compatriot Jorge Campillo and England’s Chris Wood.

Key quotes
Andy Sullivan: “I’m just playing really good golf at the moment. I hung in there early doors, and then managed to knock a few good putts in. I kept that going throughout the round, and to shoot four under for the day was pretty awesome in that horrible weather out there.
“It was really tough at times, and I feel mentally drained now because I had to concentrate so hard. I felt like I used pretty much all the energy I had out there today, but I’ve got plenty of time to relax and recharge the batteries, which is good.”
Eduardo de la Riva: “It was very tough today with the wind, so I have to be very happy with three under. It was very difficult to control your ball in the wind and putting was also very tough, so to shoot 69 was very pleasing.
“Five shots is a lot to make up and Andy is playing very, very well. But I will try tomorrow to shoot a low round and put some pressure on him.”

THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72)
195 A Sullivan (Eng) 64 64 67
200 E De La Riva  (Esp) 65 67 68
202 C Wood  (Eng) 68 69 65, J Campillo (Esp) 66 69 67,
203 N Colsaerts  (Bel) 64 71 68, T Pieters  (Bel) 65 66 72,
204 T Fisher Jnr (RSA) 66 68 70, T Bjørn (Den) 67 67 70, H Otto (RSA) 70 65 69, B Wiesberger  (Aut) 68 64 72,
205 T Fleetwood  (Eng) 69 64 72, D Drysdale (Sco) 65 71 69, A Wall (Eng) 69 64 72,
206 A Quiros  (Esp) 67 68 71, G Mulroy (RSA) 69 67 70, S Gallacher (Sco) 67 71 68, E Espana (Fra) 70 67 69,
207 A Hansen (Den) 68 67 72, L Bjerregaard  (Den) 72 69 66, M Korhonen (Fin) 69 69 69, R Rock (Eng) 70 67 70, T Aiken (RSA) 65 70 72, C Lee (Sco) 67 71 69,
208 B Ritthammer (Ger) 69 66 73, J Singh (Ind) 69 66 73, C Doak (Sco) 69 69 70, A Otaegui  (Esp) 67 67 74, J Van Zyl (RSA) 71 67 70, S Kjeldsen (Den) 68 66 74, B Hebert  (Fra) 75 64 69,
209 P Maddy (Eng) 66 69 74, A Johnston (Eng) 70 69 70,
210 S Jamieson  (Sco) 67 68 75, J Kruger (RSA) 72 69 69, P Harrington (Irl) 70 70 70, C Paisley  (Eng) 67 67 76, O Fisher  (Eng) 69 69 72, B Stow (Eng) 69 69 72,
211 G Storm  (Eng) 68 70 73, J Walters (RSA) 71 68 72, S Hutsby  (Eng) 72 68 71, R Wattel  (Fra) 67 71 73, D Brooks (Eng) 68 69 74, R Gouveia (Por) 71 68 72, L Jensen (Den) 73 67 71, R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 68 68 75, R Green (Aus) 68 70 73,
212 K Broberg (Swe) 66 70 76, D McGrane (Irl) 67 72 73, D Fichardt (RSA) 68 70 74, T Olesen (Den) 71 70 71, S Brown (Eng) 73 68 71, T Silva (am) (Por) 71 68 73,
213 D Gaunt (Aus) 72 69 72, M Kieffer (Ger) 71 70 72, G Bourdy (Fra) 70 69 74, R Bland (Eng) 71 70 72,
214 J Carlsson (Swe) 66 73 75, M Warren (Sco) 71 68 75, M Kaymer (Ger) 70 70 74,
215 P Lawrie (Sco) 71 70 74, R Gonzalez (Arg) 70 70 75, A Cañizares  (Esp) 70 69 76,
216 G Havret  (Fra) 71 70 75, B Evans  (Eng) 73 68 75, R Paratore (Ita) 70 71 75,
217 J Quesne  (Fra) 70 68 79, J Scrivener (Aus) 70 69 78, P Dunne (Irl) 68 72 77, K Phelan (Irl) 70 71 76, M Lundberg (Swe) 70 69 78,
218 M Crespi  (Ita) 68 73 77