Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Hutcheon and O'Hara share lead at Gleneagles with a round to go


Two-time winner Greig Hutcheon eagled the final hole on the King's Course at Gleneagles for the third day running to share the lead with Paul O'Hara in the M and H Logistics Scottish PGA Championship.
The pair are locked together on 10-under-par after 54 holes in the Tartan Tour's flagship event, a shot ahead of Chris Currie, with Greg McBain, Paul McKechnie and Graham Fox also still in the mix heading into the final circuit.
Hutcheon, the halfway leader, had already dropped shots at the first and seventh in a stuttering start to his third round on a sunny day at the Perthshire venue before holing a 10-footer to save par at the tenth.
The 46-year-old, who is attached to Paul Lawrie Golf Centre, then birdied the 12th and 13th as he found his stride before once again taming the 18th hole on the James Braid-designed course.
In the second round, he'd been left with just a 9-iron for his second shot from around 160 yards but from a new back being used for the first time it proved a tougher proposition.
"It was 295 yards to get over the saddle from the tee we used today and I watched both Paul O'Hara and Paul McKechnie (playing in the group in front) hit their tee shots into the upslope," said Hutcheon.
"It was going to be a big hit for me to get over it so I said to "Shifter" (his caddie) that I should take a 5-wood off the tee to stay out of any trouble then hit a 5-wood again for my second shot.
"It worked a treat as my second shot from 277 yards came off perfectly. In fact, it almost went in for an albatross."
O'Hara, who has been knocking at the door in this event in recent years, set up another last-day title tilt with a second successive six-under 66.
The 32-year-old, who is attached to North Lanarkshire Leisure Ltd, was level-par for the day through seven holes before reeling off back-to-back birdies.
He then added four more on the back nine to give himself a chance to claim the one big prize that has eluded him so far on the PGA in Scotland circuit.
"I played quite steady today and it would be nice to go out tomorrow and complete the set of Tartan Tour titles," admitted O'Hara.
Unlike the others up at the top of the leaderboard, he has already secured a place in the PGA Play-Offs in Turkey next month through finishing runner-up in the PGA Pros Championship earlier in the year.
"I am also playing in the PGA EuroPro Tour Championship in Spain next week, so there's a lot of opportunities late in the season," added O'Hara.
Currie, a member of last year's PGA Cup-winning side at Foxhills in Surrey, moved into third spot on the back of a 65, which was matched by Fox, the 2012 champion.
"It is good to be in the mix as my season has been mince," declared Erskine pro Currie.

THIRD-ROUND SCOREBOARD
T1Scotland Paul O'Hara
  North Lanarkshire Leisure Ltd
-4F-10686666 200
T1Scotland Greig Hutcheon
  Paul Lawrie Golf Centre
-2F-10686468 200
3Scotland Christopher Currie
  Erskine Golf Club
-5F-9676965 201
4Scotland Greg McBain
  Newmachar Golf Club
-1F-8666769 202
5Scotland Paul McKechnie
  Braid Hills Golf Range
-2F-7676868 203
6Scotland Graham Fox
  Clydeway Golf
-5F-6687165 204
7Scotland Jamie McLeary-1F-5676969 205
8Scotland Steven O'Hara
  North Lanarkshire Leisure Ltd
-5F-4717065 206
9Scotland Craig Lee
  Craig Lee Golf Studio
-4F-3707166 207
10Scotland Neil Fenwick
  Dunbar Golf Club
+2F-2676972 208
T11Wales Gareth Wright
  West Linton Golf Club
-2FE727068 210
T11Scotland Alastair Forsyth
  Mearns Castle Golf Academy
EFE726870 210
T11Scotland Andrew Oldcorn
  Kings Acre Golf Course
+1FE697071 210
T11Scotland Chris Kelly
  Scotland for Golf
+2FE627672 210
T15Scotland James Steven
  Pumpherston Golf Club
-2F+1737068 211
T15Scotland Stephen Gray
  Lanark Golf Club
+1F+1697171 211
T15Scotland Gavin Hay
  Mearns Castle Golf Academy
+2F+1716872 211
T18Scotland Fraser McKenna
  Caldwell Golf Club
-1F+2697469 212
T18Scotland Michael Patterson
  Williamwood Golf Club
+4F+2716774 212
T18Scotland Thomas Higson
  The Gleneagles Hotel
+6F+2696776 212
T21Scotland Graeme Brown
  Montrose Golf Links Ltd.
EF+3707370 213
T21Scotland Cameron Farrell
  Cardross Golf Club
+2F+3707172 213
T21Scotland Greg Paxton
  Ralston Golf Club
+2F+3726972 213
T24Scotland Kris Nicol
  Dunes Golf Centre
+2F+4727072 214
T24Scotland Graeme McDougall
  Elie Links
+2F+4766672 214
T26Scotland James McGhee
  Swanston Golf Club
+3F+5687473 215
T26Scotland Zack Saltman+5F+5716975 215
28Scotland Craig Ronald
  Carluke Golf Club
+4F+6727074 216
29Scotland Ross Munro
  Duddingston Golf Club
+3F+7756973 217
30Scotland Ross Cameron+6F+10727276 220
31Scotland Marc Owenson
  Gullane Golf Club
+8F+11717278 221
32Scotland Rory Tinker
  Piperdam Golf and Leisure Resort
+9F+13737179 223

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