Pepperell stays three ahead of British Masters field at Walton Heath 

                                 This image of Eddie Pepperell is displayed by courtesy of Getty Images

Day Three Report
Englishman Eddie Pepperell maintained his three-shot overnight advantage in the Sky Sports British Masters, courtesy of a steady one-under-par third round of 71, which kept him on course for a wire-to-wire victory at Walton Heath Golf Club.
The 27-year-old reached the turn in level par and then eagled the 11^th hole, but gave one shot back on the 12^th before a run of six consecutive pars to finish 54 holes on nine under par 207
Pepperell is targeting a second European Tour title of 2018 after winning the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters in February. He is three strokes clear of fellow Englishman Jordan Smith (70), American Julian Suri (69), Sweden’s Alexander Björk (68) and Frenchman Julien Guerrier (70), with the quartet tied for second place on six under par.
Matt Wallace, the joint first round leader, is a further two shots back after a one over par round of 73, while Ryder Cup star Tommy Fleetwood is just outside the top ten on two under par after a round of 70.
Tournament host Justin Rose moved into a share of 19^th position with a three under par round of 69 and the Olympic Champion will start the final round eight shots behind Pepperell on one under par.
Player quotes
Eddie Pepperell
"It would be nice to have holed a couple of putts on the back nine and give myself a bit more daylight. But I'm confident that I can go out there tomorrow and shoot three or four under par, and make everyone else's life very difficult. It's a new position for me, first time I've ever gone out there with a three-shot lead on a Saturday, so to have maintained it, I would say is not a failure.
"I think when you lead any golf tournament, it's pretty special. I just want to go out there tomorrow, and looking back today, I did feel like I hit a lot of nice, solid shots. That's going to carry on through tomorrow. If I can achieve that tomorrow, I'll be happy."
Alexander Björk
“I feel like I'm back on the right track again. I was quite tired after the summer and I didn't play really well in August. After that, I got food poisoning in Switzerland and took a couple weeks off.
"I would say I’m just starting to be back to normal again. I feel strong again and feel like the game is coming in the right direction. I've been working hard for this and it's nice to see this coming back again.”

Jordan Smith

"It was steady. I missed a few greens in the wrong spots and didn't get up-and-down, missed a couple of short putts, but I drove it well and scrambled well.

 

"It would mean everything to win. For me, it will top my year. It hasn't been quite as good as what I had last year but to get that win, obviously it would be massive. And to do it here with Justin Rose, one of my idols, hosting it, it would be awesome."

 

Julian Suri

 

"Overall it was really solid. I hit it nicely like I have all week. I got a few putts to drop on the front nine after a rocky start and I'm pretty pleased with where I'm at.

 

"It would be great to win. I would like to add to a great list of champions and it's a tournament that I've always grown up watching, in all the different venues. It would be cool to add my name to that list."

 

Julien Guerrier

 

"I'm really happy to play under par again. It's tough conditions. The wind was a little bit less windy today and I played a good round. I was very often in a birdie position, which is good.

 

"To win the British Masters would be really good, especially in the windy conditions. It's windy here. I come from Golf de la Pree La Rochelle, and it's very windy there. I think I learned how to do well in the wind.

 THIRD-ROUND TOTALS

 Par 216 (3x72)

207 E Pepperell (Eng) 67 69 71
210 A Björk (Swe) 69 73 68, J Guerrier (Fra) 70 70 70, J Smith (Eng) 71 69 70, J Suri (USA) 70 71 69
212 M Wallace (Eng) 67 72 73, A Pavan (Ita) 73 72 67
213 A Saddier (Fra) 73 73 67, L Bjerregaard (Den) 74 67 72, M Fitzpatrick (Eng) 69 73 71, T Immelman (SAf) 69 73 71
214 J Wang (S Korea) 69 75 70, A Sullivan (Eng) 69 72 73, L Herbert (Australia) 72 75 67, W Ormsby (Australia) 72 71 71, T Lewis (Eng) 70 73 71, S Brown (Eng) 69 73 72, T Fleetwood (Eng) 67 77 70 
215 S Horsfield (Eng) 71 70 74, G Fernandez-Castaño (Spn) 72 72 71, G Havret (Fra) 75 70 70, R Karlsson (Swe) 69 73 73, R Fisher (Eng) 69 72 74, G Green (Malayasia) 69 78 68, J Rose (Eng) 74 72 69, R Sterne (SAf) 71 74 70, A Connelly (Canada) 73 73 69
216 M Kinhult (Swe) 71 74 71, C Sordet (Fra) 69 77 70, M Schwab (Austria) 70 74 72, M Siem (Ger) 72 73 71, L Slattery (Eng) 70 74 72, H Li (Chn) 73 74 69,
217 P Dunne (Ire) 70 73 74, C Hanson (Eng) 75 69 73, S Jamieson (Sco) 73 72 72, J Lagergren (Swe) 68 78 71, A Johnston (Eng) 72 72 73, A Levy (Fra) 67 78 72, O Farr (Wales) 73 73 71, E Molinari (Ita) 74 72 71,
218 R Ramsay (Sco) 74 72 72, R Gouveia (Por) 76 70 72, P Harrington (Irl) 73 74 71, M Warren (Sco) 74 73 71, D Fichardt (SAf) 73 73 72, S Lowry (Ire) 75 71 72 
219 A Rai (Eng) 73 74 72, Z Lombard (SAf) 72 72 75, R Rock (Eng) 72 74 73, D Lipsky (USA) 68 78 73, C Pigem (Spn) 71 72 76 
220 P Waring (Eng) 70 77 73, D Burmester (SAf) 74 72 74, M Korhonen (Finland) 70 74 76, M Manassero (Ita) 72 72 76, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 68 79 73, J Morrison (Eng) 72 71 77, R Wattel (Fra) 73 73 74
221 T Aiken (SAf) 75 72 74, P Larrazábal (Spn) 70 77 74, F Molinari (Ita) 73 73 75, M Southgate (Eng) 69 76 76, S Kjeldsen (Den) 73 74 74,
222 M Fraser (Australia) 72 74 76, S Gallacher (Sco) 72 73 77, G Bourdy (Fra) 74 73 75, D Drysdale (Sco) 69 73 80, A Dodt (Australia) 73 73 76, B Rumford (Australia) 71 75 76
223 R McEvoy (Eng) 68 77 78, H Porteous (SAf) 77 70 76