AMERICAN LEADS BY FIVE IN CHALLENGE TOUR EVENT IN ITALY
REPORT BY SARAH GWYNN
EUROPEAN CHALLENGE TOUR STAFF
EUROPEAN CHALLENGE TOUR STAFF
Brooks
Koepka scorched into a five shot lead in the Montecchia Golf Open
presented by POLAROID with a magnificent nine under par 62 in the third
round.
The
American played a “flawless” round at Golf Club della Montecchia and at
18 under par overall his nearest rivals heading into the final day are
Spaniard Agustin Domingo, who also sparkled with a seven under par 64,
and Frenchman Edouard
Espana, who birdied five of the last six holes for a 67.
Koepka
is playing his first full season on the Challenge Tour but has already
signalled his potential, winning the Challenge de Catalunya last
September and taking 43rd spot in the 2012 Rankings despite only playing
ten events.
The
Floridian birdied the fourth and fifth before a stunning run from the
ninth yielded five birdies and an eagle in seven holes.
He
needed to pick up two shots in the last three holes for an elusive
sub-60 round, but parred his way home and then joked: “I choked.”
“It
doesn’t get much better than that,” said Koepka, who turned 23 on
Friday. “It was flawless golf. That run I got on from the ninth, I just
holed everything. I was hitting it so close; I didn’t have a putt
outside 15 feet.
“I’ve
still got to go out there and play 18 holes tomorrow and I can’t think
about winning yet. Someone could have a round like I did today and force
me to do something. I’ll be taking the same approach as I’ve had all
week; there’s no
point playing defensively.”
Koepka,
who qualified for last year’s US Open Championship, added: “I might be
American but right now I see my future in Europe. The goal is to get a
European Tour car for next season and I would love to do that. In time I
might go back
to the States, but right now I’m loving life on the Challenge Tour.”
Domingo
and Espana - themselves three shots clear of the rest of the field -
will have to produce something special on Sunday to prevent Koepka
winning his second Challenge Tour title.
Domingo said: “Almost everything was
perfect today. Obviously Brooks is far ahead but you never know in golf
and the only thing I can do is play my best and see where I end up.”
Espana,
who only turned professional in January and is playing this week
courtesy of a sponsor’s invitation, added: “I found something with my
putting on the back nine today so hopefully I can continue that tomorrow
and finish as high up
as I can. I won’t have many opportunities this year as I am relying on
invites, so it’s important that I take my chances.”
THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
Par 213 (3x71) 195 B Koepka (USA) 66 67 62
200 A Domingo (Esp) 68 68 64, E Espana (Fra) 65 68 67
203 J Guerrier (Fra) 68 65 70, A Rota (Ita) 66 67 70, S Little (Eng) 68 69 66
204
N Ravano (Ita) 71 67 66, A Levy (Fra) 66 69 69, P Edberg (Swe) 68 70
66, F Colombo (Ita) 68 70 66, J Moul (Eng) 65 67 72, D Brooks (Eng) 70
66 68
205
N Quintarelli (Ita) 68 70 67, T Hatton (Eng) 70 67 68, S Benson (Eng)
71 64 70, M Korhonen (Fin) 69 69 67, E Johansen (Nor) 68 69 68, G Shaw
(Nir) 65 68 72, L Bjerregaard (Den) 65 72 68, R Saxton (Ned) 70 67 68, C
Russo (Fra) 64
69 72, S Arnold (Aus) 67 70 68,
206
P Dwyer (Eng) 69 69 68, S Manley (Wal) 70 68 68, N Elvira (Esp) 70 67
69, R McGowan (Eng) 69 69 68, T Nørret (Den) 68 69 69, K Ferrie (Eng)
71 68 67, G Boyd (Eng) 68 68 70, A Velasco (Esp) 67 69 70
207
J Lando Casanova (Fra) 70 68 69, C Aguilar (Esp) 66 73 68, D Vancsik
(Arg) 67 71 69, T Haylock (Eng) 66 71 70, J Dantorp (Swe) 67 72 68, D
Griffiths (Eng) 69 67 71, D Dixon (Eng) 68 71 68, R Paratore (am) (Ita)
70 67 70
208
D Ulrich (Sui) 65 72 71, C Macaulay (Sco) 70 68 70, J Garcia Pinto
(Esp) 69 70 69, S Tiley (Eng) 68 71 69, J McLeary (Sco) 69 69 70, P
Oriol (Esp) 69 68 71
209
J Senior (Eng) 68 69 72, R McEvoy (Eng) 71 68 70, S Thornton (Irl) 64
73 72, S Hutsby (Eng) 67 71 71, M Crespi (Ita) 68 71 70, A Romano
(Ita) 71 68 70, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 70 69 70, J Ruth (Eng) 70 66 73, D
Wuensche (Ger) 68
70 71
210
J Lima (Por) 70 67 73, V Riu (Fra) 68 69 73, B Dredge (Wal) 69 69 72,
O Bekker (RSA) 69 68 73, F Calmels (Fra) 68 71 71, G Stal (Fra) 69 70
71
211 A Dunbar (Nir) 69 69 73, M Haastrup (Den) 65 73 73, S Piaget (Mon) 69 70 72
212 B Hebert (Fra) 69 69 74
213 S O'Hara (Sco) 71 68 74
140 W Booth 67 73
141 L Saltman 71 70, A Forsyth 70 71, G Murray 68 73.
142 R Russell 72 70, J Doherty 69 73.
143 R Kellett 74 69, D Law 72 71
144 A McArthur 73 71
148 D Stewart 71 77.
Labels: CHALLENGE TOUR
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