CRAIG LEE SHARING SECOND PLACE AFTER THREE ROUNDS ON MADEIRA

REPORT FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

Mark Tullo is in pole position to claim a maiden European Tour 

title as the Chilean edged into a one-shot lead after an intense 

battle of wits in the third round of the Madeira Islands Open – 

Portugal – BPI at Clube de Golf do Santo da Serra.

The Santiago native (pictured by courtesy of Getty Images(c)  

played in the final group alongside 

the second-round leader Craig Lee 

and American Peter Uihlein, who 

carded a stunning 64 on the second 

day to move into contention, and the 

lead was exchanged back and forth 

between the three throughout 

the day.

In much more favourable conditions 

at the spectacular Madeira 

venue, Tullo got straight into the mix from the off as a birdie at the 

first hole elevated him to the top of the leaderboard alongside Lee.

A bogey from the Scot at the second meant Tullo jumped into 

the outright lead but it was only a brief sojourn as Lee 

proceeded to birdie the next two to regain the lead.

Tullo carded a fourth birdie of the day at the 14^th to move back 

into a share of the lead before he seized the initiative with another at the par three 17^th, thanks to a difficult birdie putt from 10 feet 

which rolled in for a four under par 68.

That moved the two-time Challenge Tour winner one shot clear of 

both Lee and Uihlein on 12 under par and he was delighted with

his round.

“I played really good today,” he said. “I had a good back nine and 

the putter worked pretty well for me.

“I hit 17 greens for the third consecutive day and that’s the key on 

this golf course. I had one bad drive which resulted in a bogey but 

I'm really happy with the way I'm playing, shot-by-shot and 

day-by-day.

“There will be no different strategy here tomorrow, I just want to 

hit the same shots and do the same things and we’ll see what 

happens.”

All three of the players in an identical final group on Sunday have 

recent experience of being in contention on the final day, but are 

still waiting to enter the winners’ circle on The European Tour.

At the Open de España in April, Lee entered the final day two 

shots off the lead but fell to a 78, while Uihlein and Tullo were in 

with a shout of winning the Tshwane Open and Africa Open, 

respectively, before both settling for top five finishes.

Lee is glad to be back in contention in a European Tour 

tournament and thinks he will have learned from his 

disappointing final day experience last month.

“I'm still playing very well so as long as I keep striking it like that 

I've got a good chance and hopefully I can roll a few in and see 

what happens,” said the 34 year old, who signed for a two under 

third round of 70.

“I don’t feel under as much pressure after Spain, I’ll be a little bit 

easier on myself and I know what I need to do now when I get into 

this position. I just have to keep doing what got me here.”

Uihlein, meanwhile, could not quite live up to his heroics on Friday 

- when he briefly threatened a 59 after negotiating the opening 12 

holes in ten under par - but a three under par third round 69 was 

enough to keep him within touching distance of a maiden 

professional title.

THIRD ROUND TOTALS

Par 216 (3x72)

204 M Tullo (Chi) 67 69 68,

205 P Uihlein  (USA) 72 64 69, C Lee (Sco) 67 68 70,

208 M Madsen  (Den) 72 69 67, J Sandelin (Swe) 69 69 70,

210 J Lima  (Por) 73 71 66, D Im (USA) 72 71 67,

211 C Paisley  (Eng) 71 72 68, R Bland (Eng) 66 75 70, R Karlberg  (Swe) 72 68 71, R Kakko  (Fin) 70 70 71,

212 N Fasth (Swe) 75 68 69, C Brazillier  (Fra) 70 68 74, J Howarth (Eng) 72 70 70, S Benson (Eng) 74 69 69, T Levet (Fra) 70 67 75, R Davies (Wal) 74 68 70, S Hansen (Den) 70 68 74,

213 M Brier (Aut) 72 73 68, H Bacher (Aut) 73 70 70, L Saltman (Sco) 64 75 74, J Dantorp (Swe) 70 72 71, B Koepka  (USA) 72 73 68, D Higgins (Irl) 75 69 69, S Tiley (Eng) 71 73 69, T Haylock  (Eng) 71 73 69, D Kemmer (USA) 72 70 71, A Tadini (Ita) 71 72 70, C Doak (Sco) 73 70 70, J Elson  (Eng) 72 71 70, R Derksen (Ned) 72 69 72,

214 J Lagergren (Swe) 67 75 72, M Korhonen (Fin) 72 71 71, R Quiros  (Esp) 73 71 70, P Whiteford (Sco) 70 74 70, V Riu  (Fra) 70 72 72,

215 M Lundberg (Swe) 70 72 73, T Sluiter  (Ned) 71 72 72, R Santos  (Por) 76 70 69, A Pavan (Ita) 73 70 72, D McGrane (Irl) 71 71 73,

216 R Russell (Sco) 73 72 71, S Dyson  (Eng) 75 70 71, P Hedblom (Swe) 71 73 72, S Walker (Eng) 77 68 71,

217 A Snobeck  (Fra) 72 74 71, J Parry (Eng) 70 72 75, T Hatton (Eng) 71 74 72, D Dixon (Eng) 70 74 73, K Eriksson (Swe) 73 69 75, J Ruth  (Eng) 71 75 71, O Floren  (Swe) 72 72 73,

218 P Edberg (Swe) 70 76 72, S Arnold  (Aus) 72 74 72, N Henriques  (Por) 71 73 74, G Pinto (am) (Por) 73 70 75,

219 A Gee  (Eng) 71 75 73, A Marshall (Eng) 75 71 73, R Rock (Eng) 74 72 73, N Quintarelli (Ita) 71 73 75,

220 N Ravano (Ita) 73 73 74, C Del Moral (Esp) 71 72 77, A Perrino  (Ita) 70 73 77, R McGowan  (Eng) 68 77 75,

221 M Delpodio  (Ita) 72 74 75, S Hutsby  (Eng) 74 70 77, A Velasco (Esp) 75 71 75,

222 J Carlota (am) (Por) 72 74 76,

226 G Storm  (Eng) 73 73 80, A Rosado  (Por) 73 73 80,

 

 EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS