Joachim B Hansen will take a one shot lead into the final round as a sprint finish beckons at the Madeira Islands Open – BPI – Portugal.
Play had already been reduced to 54 holes when strong winds prevented any play on Thursday, and the tournament was cut to a 36-hole dash when almost five hours of play was lost on Saturday after heavy rain flooded the Clube de Golf do Santo da Serra course.
Hansen’s four under par 68 came under threat numerous times throughout the day – he was initially joined by Finn Jaakko Makitalo and Swede Joakim Lagergren during the hour and 13 minutes of play that were possible this morning, but both bogeyed their first hole after the resumption this afternoon.
As it was, England’s Andrew Marshall and French pair Jean-Baptiste Gonnet and Adrien Saddier – all of whom had completed rounds of 69 on Friday – were joined by Makitalo and compatriots Antti Ahokas and Roope Kakko, Italy’s Alessandro Tadini and Scotland’s Pete Whiteford on three under.
“Of course I’m happy with that,” said Makitalo. “It was not a great three-putt on the 17th, but I had a tough putt downwind and that can happen and after all of that, I’ll take a 69.
“I just tried to keep my hands warm, have a good rhythm in the swing and try to get the putts near and something will roll in.
“It’s always different when you go back out and it’s difficult. But that’s how it is and it’s the same for everybody.”
Whiteford, making his first start of the season after losing his European Tour card on the back of a disappointing 2014 campaign, added: “I’m quite happy - I played nicely and left a few out there to be honest, which is nice to say considering I was probably the worst golfer on The European Tour last year!
“It’s been blowing a hurricane back home so it’s kind of what I’ve been practicing in anyways. It’s the first time I’ve been on a golf course and enjoyed it for a maybe a year so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.
“I feel very refreshed after taking a little break from the game. The driver is a lot better and that was the thing that was killing me last year, but you work twice as hard when you’re playing badly and I was doing more than I should have been doing, working on the wrong things.
“It feels better, the time away helped to refresh the brain a little bit and if I enjoy it I’ll play alright. I don’t care how I do at the moment as long as I enjoy it.
“It’s a major for us on the Challenge Tour, the biggest one of the year so with me certainly, being selfish, I definitely want to get the second round in so I can get a pay cheque and some money onto the Rankings.
“I’m not going to play European Tour this year, maybe a couple, but my focus is on the Challenge Tour and to enjoy it and not be depressed and miserable.
“After just one round it’s going to be an absolute rat race with a huge number of people on the same scores. It’ll be a shotgun start so it’s not like you’ll be under the cosh coming down the stretch because you’ll never know where the scores will come from.
“I guess you just go out and enjoy it and see what you shoot and if I’m there or thereabouts I can start thinking about it. I’m just happy not to be grumpy!”
The field was cut to 65 and ties ahead of Sunday’s final round, with those on two over sneaking in late in the day.
With 82 players separated by just six shots and a shotgun start, it promises to be an enthralling final round.
