Scotland and France joint leaders with a round 

to go in PGAs of Europe team championship


By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Graham Fox still leads the individual scoreboard but Scotland have been joined by France in a share of the lead with one round to go in the PGAs of Europe international team championship at Gloria Golf Club, Belek in southern Turkey.
Fox contributed a one-under-par 71 and Gareth Wright a 69 for a Scotland best of three (David Orr had a non-counting 72) third-day team score of 140.
France had started the third day three shots behind the Scots but their third-round tally of 137 enabled them to draw level.
It looks a straight fight between Scotland - defending champions and eight times title winners in all - and France as they are three shots clear of third-placed Ireland (423) with Wales (424) and England (425) coming next in the leaderboard.
Fox's 54-hole aggregate of 10-under-par 206 gives him a one-shot lead over Italy's Luca Beneduce and Welshman Sion Bebb.
THIRD-ROUND SCOREBOARD
TEAMS
Par 432 (6x72)
420 Scotland 144 136 140, France 139, 144, 137
423 Ireland 140 141 142
424 Wales 148 137 130
425 England 143 139  143
430 Italy 142 143 145 
434 Belgium, Denmark
435 Netherlands, Sweden
443 Turkey, Switzerland.
445 South Africa
446 Czech Republic
447 Austria, Poland
449 Germany
452 Greece
454 Slovenia
460 Hungary
463 Finland
471 Croatia
LEADING INDIVIDUALS
 par 216 (3x72)
206 G Fox (Sco) 69 66 71
207 L Beneduce (Ita) 68 69 70, S Bebb (Wal) 73 67 67
208 E Brady  (Ire) 69 68 71

SELECTED SCORES
214  M Watson (Eng) 74 68 72, C Clark (Eng) 72 71 71, G Wright (Sco) 75 70 69 (T8)
217 B McGovern (Ire) 71 75 71 (11th)
219 R Dinsdale (Wal) 77 70 72, P Hendriksen (Eng) 71 71 76 (T14).
222 D Mooney (Ire) 76 73 73 (T25)
224 A Constable (Wal) 75 75 74, D Orr (Sco) 77 75 72 (T31).

PGAs OF EUROPE NEWS RELEASE
 

France not only dressed to impress in the third round of the PGAs of Europe International Team Championship but played golf to match.

In doing so, they set up a final round showdown with Scotland over the Old Course at Gloria Golf Club in the Turkish resort of Belek.

Sporting patriotic red, white and blue attire bought from the club shop, the French posted their best round of the tournament to share the lead with the defending champions on 12-under.

It also returned them to pole position, the berth they occupied on day one after their previous best of five-under put them a stroke clear of the 23 team-strong field pursuing the €6,000 first prize.

Then, Michael Altmeyer had been their star performer with a round of six-under. This time Raphael Eyraud and Arnaud Verhaege, followed suit.

The former posted four-under while the latter weighed in with three-under for what was his first contributing score of the tournament.

“I was one-over and four-over in the first and second rounds, so it’s good to contribute this time,” he said.  “It was a good round for us today – let’s hope we can do the same tomorrow and have the French flag flying over the clubhouse.”

Explaining his team’s choice of clothing, Verhaege added: “The ones we were meant to wear didn’t arrive so we bought replacements from the club shop – the choice of colours was deliberate.”

Verhaege’s three-under was matched by Gareth Wright of Scotland and with Graham Fox, the scourge of both the Old and New Courses, having a relatively quiet day with a round of one-under, the French erased a three-stroke deficit.

That is the advantage the joint leaders have over Ireland but, with the best two scores from three counting, it is a slender one. Similarly, Wales on eight-under, and England, a stroke further back, are very much in the mix.

Verhaege’s three-under was matched by Gareth Wright of Scotland and with Graham Fox, the scourge of both the Old and New Courses, having a relatively quiet day with a round of one-under, the French erased a three-stroke deficit. That is the advantage the joint leaders have over Ireland but, with the best two scores from three counting, it is a slender one. Similarly, Wales on eight-under, and England, a stroke further back, are very much in the mix. Wales were indebted to Sion Bebb who posted his second successive five-under-par round of 67, a score that puts him level with Italy’s Luca Beneduce on nine-under individually for the tournament, one behind Fox. Meanwhile, the conclusion of the International Team Shield, the competition for teams representing a PGA with 100 members or fewer, looks set to be as competitive as the main tournament. Host nation Turkey have led the tournament within a tournament from day one but their advantage over Poland going into the final round is just four strokes.   Leading Scores: France, Scotland (-12); Ireland (-9); Wales (-8); England (-7); Italy (-2), Belgium, Denmark (+2).   ------------------------ For updates, information and news visit the ITC Tournament Hub Page (http://eur.pe/2015ITC), follow @PGAsofEurope on Twitter and search the hashtag #ITC or like the PGAs of Europe Facebook Page.   --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------