Austria were on spectacular form in the third round fourballs at the Omega Mission Hills World Cup European Qualifier in Estonia, shooting 61 to lead by two shots going into the final day.
Florian Praegant and Roland Steiner, both regulars on the Challenge Tour, carded nine birdies and an eagle in a magnificent display of fourball golf to reach 19 under par for the tournament.
Hot on the heels of the Austrian pair are the Dutch duo of Joost Luiten and Robert-Jan Derksen, who shot 63 to drop back from a tie for first to second place on their own.
Portugal were in impressive form in the third round, shooting 61 to lie in third place having started the day tied for seventh.
Greece moved into fourth place on their own, three shots behind Portugal, having shot 64 to reach a total of 12 under par for the tournament, their best performance in three attempts to qualify for the World Cup.
Estonia rallied, after a bogey six on their first hole, to delight the home crowd with eight birdies to finish the third round with a seven under par 65 - a great recovery after a disappointing 80 in their second round.
The leading three teams will qualify for the OMEGA Mission Hills World Cup in Hainan Island from November 24 – 27.
The Austrian team were in buoyant mood as they completed their round.
“We actually had nine birdies and two eagles, not one. We both made eagle on the sixth but unfortunately only one counts,” joked Steiner. “It was a great day out there today. We played very good as a team. When one of us was in trouble, the other one came in with par or birdie”
Steiner’s putter was red hot throughout the round as Praegant explained:
“Roland holed a lot of long putts today which was important. He holed four or five putts of over nine meters.”
Looking ahead to the final round, the Austrian team allowed themselves to contemplate reaching the World Cup final in China.
“We are looking forward to tomorrow. If we keep on going like this then we’ll be fine. Par will be a good score tomorrow if the wind stays the same as today. We are playing with The Netherlands again tomorrow. Maybe we will have the chance to play together in China in November if we play solidly tomorrow,” said Steiner.
The Dutch team were pleased with their performance but had a frustrating day on the greens as Derksen explained.
“It was OK today. The course was playing a bit more difficult with the wind and some tricky pins but we played well. We were a bit unlucky on the greens today. We always had a putt for birdie but while the Austrian team made theirs, often from outside us, we didn’t.”
“We have put ourselves in a good position for the final round tomorrow and the foursomes format should suit us better so we look forward to tomorrow,” he added.
Playing alongside his younger brother Ricardo, Hugo Santos produced a spectacular display of golf shooting six of their ten birdies in the fourball better ball format at the Estonian Golf and Country Club. Ricardo matched his contribution with four birdies and an eagle on the par five 15th hole. The only blemish on their card was a dropped shot on the short 17th.
Speaking after their round, Challenge Tour Order of Merit leader Ricardo was full of praise for his brother.
“It was a great round, I really enjoyed today. My brother played really solid and I am happy for him. It gave me a lot of confidence to watch him play so good and solid and I could then go for my shots. Our caddies Romeu and Almerindo were great today too. I promised I would thank them.”
“The course is great. We had great conditions out there. The weather was perfect right up until we finished. This is my first time in Estonia and I am enjoying it a lot,” added brother Hugo.
Looking ahead to the final round, Ricardo was clear about the team’s plans for the final round foursomes:
“We will have the same strategy tomorrow as on Friday and we hope to enjoy the round as much as possible. We played good yesterday. We had a couple of three putts but mistakes happen. We just need to play shot by shot and try to enjoy it.”
The Scores – after round 3
197 – Austria (Roland STEINER/Florian PRAEGANT)
199 – Netherlands (Joost LUITEN / Robert-Jan DERKSEN)
201 – Portugal (Ricardo SANTOS/ Hugo SANTOS)
204 – Greece (Karantzias PANAGIOTIS/Gkinis THEMISTOKLIS)
206 – Finland (Mikko KORHONEN/ Joonas GRANBERG), Chile (Mark TULLO/ Felipe AGUILAR)
208 – Switzerland (Martin ROMANGER/Nicolas SULZER)
211 – Slovenia (Sebastjan AJSTER/ Gregor SLABE)
212 – Estonia (Mark SUURSALU/Egert POLDMA)
213 – Poland (Maksymilian SALUDA/ Jakub OSSOWSKI)
220 – Croatia (Marin STAHAN/Miro RAIC)
Format: Fourball used in first and third rounds, Foursomes (alternate shot) used in the Second and final founds
