Ireland’s
Niall Turner shares the lead heading into the final round of the
Northern Ireland Open in Association with Sphere Global and Ulster Bank
after a three under par third round 68 at Galgorm Castle moved him to
the summit alongside second round leader Emilio Cuartero Blanco.
Turner birdied the 18th
to set the clubhouse target at 14 under par while his Spanish
counterpart could only make par to remain on the same score, with Jamie
McLeary and Clément Sordet two shots further back in joint third place.
The
32 year old suffered a bad back injury in January that disrupted most
of his season thus far but credited the support of the local crowds with
spurring him on this week.
“It’s
fantastic playing in front of an Irish crowd,” he said. “This event is
so well supported, and I had some close friends and family up here
today.
“It’s
great to hear the roar from the crowds, like on the last hole when I
made a long birdie putt, and it’s fantastic to know that you’ve got the
home crowd behind you.
“It
was actually a bit of an up and down round. I got it going really well
in the middle of the round but missed a lot of short putts coming in.
“I
was happy with my final two holes though, saving par on 17 and then a
lovely birdie on the last. All in all I’m delighted with a 68.
“It’s
exciting to be in the final group in the final round. I’ve always
enjoyed playing in front of crowds so I’m looking forward to it.
“I’ll
treat it like any other round and go through the usual pre-round
routine. It’s hard to do but you have to stay true to what you’ve been
doing and trust in your game. I’m really excited about it.”
Cuartero
Blanco admitted nerves got the better of him as he made a double bogey
on the first hole, but he made five birdies and an eagle to fire a 69
and remain in a share for the lead.
“I
started very badly, just some bad swings,” said the 24 year old. “I was
a bit nervous today because I haven’t held the lead in a tournament
since I was an amateur, but now I’m so excited.
“My
round was a bit messy but the eagle on the ninth helped. I putted well
and made a lot of birdies, and I was happy to be able to come back after
a bad start and to be able to hold a lead.
“I’m
looking forward to seeing how I perform under final round pressure. The
people just want to see good shots, so I think they enjoyed me today
because I made a lot of birdies, as well as quite a few bogeys, but it
was good fun.
“I
couldn’t be happier with the crowd that followed me. There was a family
from San Sebastián and they were cheering ‘vamos, vamos’ which was nice
to hear. But everyone claps and cheers everything, it’s great to have
this support out here and I’m excited for even more people.”
Frenchman
Sordet, in just his fourth event since turning professional, almost
made a hole in one on the par three fifth as he shot a 68 to move to 12
under par.
McLeary
started with a sublime approach to the first and three other birdies on
the front nine moved him into contention before a bogey coming home
meant he remains two shots back.
His
fellow Scot Peter Whiteford fired the best round of the day, a six
under par 65, and sits on 11 under par alongside Denmark’s Jeff Winther
and American John Hahn.
A
clutch of players remain well within striking range at 10 under par,
including Road to Oman Rankings leader Ricardo Gouveia and 2013 Northern
Ireland Open champion Daan Huizing.
The
home hopeful Chris Selfridge, having this week made his eighth
successive cut since turning professional, fired a level par round of 71
to remain on eight under par.
Scores:
199 E Cuartero Blanco (Esp) 65 65 69, N Turner (Irl) 65 66 68,
201 C Sordet (Fra) 67 66 68, J McLeary (Sco) 67 65 69,
202 J Hahn (USA) 65 66 71, P Whiteford (Sco) 68 69 65, J Winther (Den) 67 68 67,
203 D Law (Sco) 67 67 69, H Porteous (RSA) 65 69 69, M Armitage (Eng)
72 65 66, S Wakefield (Eng) 66 69 68, D Huizing (Ned) 65 68 70, R
Gouveia (Por) 70 67 66, S Gros (Fra) 66 66 71,
204 A McArthur (Sco) 68 67 69, D Coupland (Eng) 69 69 66,
205 C Selfridge (Nir) 68 66 71, S Arnold (Aus) 66 67 72, C Gloet (Den) 73 65 67, T Pilkadaris (Aus) 69 65 71,
206 V Riu (Fra) 67 69 70, S Thornton (Irl) 66 69 71, J Glennemo
(Swe) 66 71 69, D Im (USA) 68 67 71, B Virto Astudillo (Esp) 73 64 69, J
Lara (Esp) 70 66 70, S Manley (Wal) 66 70 70, G Woolgar (Eng) 67 68
71,
207 R Kellett (Sco) 66 69 72, T Linard (Fra) 68 70 69, G Murray (Sco) 70 67 70, B Stone (RSA) 66 71 70,
208 B Hafthorsson (Isl) 69 69 70, E Goya (Arg) 66 70 72, J Watts
(Eng) 68 71 69, H Joannes (Bel) 69 68 71, R Evans (Eng) 66 70 72, P
Maddy (Eng) 68 67 73,
209 G Shaw (Nir) 73 64 72, P Lawrie (Irl) 68 70 71, T Sluiter (Ned)
66 71 72, D Perrier (Fra) 69 67 73, S Matus (Cze) 70 67 72,
210 P Figueiredo (Por) 70 67 73, M Orrin (Eng) 71 68 71, B Casey
(Irl) 69 70 71, A Knappe (Ger) 69 68 73, J Lima (Por) 70 66 74,
211 G King (Eng) 70 69 72, N Kearney (Irl) 69 69 73, O Stark (Swe) 68
71 72, N Elvira (Esp) 68 70 73, N Raymond (Eng) 69 67 75, J Robinson
(Eng) 68 68 75, S Walker (Eng) 71 68 72,
212 J Billing (Swe) 70 67 75,
213 L Gagli (Ita) 69 68 76,
214 N Kimsey (Eng) 67 72 75,
216 A Snobeck (Fra) 68 69 79, S Henry (Sco) 70 69 77,
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