Conor Purcell reclaimed his position atop the leaderboard after carding a four under par 67 to share the third round lead with Ben Schmidt at the inaugural Hangzhou Open on Saturday.
Irishman Purcell had earlier taken the opening round lead with a 63 but slipped to tied-third following a second round 69. The 27-year-old, however, braved the elements and staged his fightback by marking his card with seven birdies and three bogeys to sign for a three-day total of 14-under-par 199 at the West Lake International Golf and Country Club.
“The weather took a turn in the back nine and it was a tricky test. When it rains, the water sits on the grass and it’s really hard to judge where the ball is going to go,” said Purcell.
“I struggled on a couple of holes but managed to get a grip on the last few. I’m just very happy I managed to stay in my little bubble today. It’s easy to get caught up with everything but I stuck to my own game plan and didn’t even realise I was tied for the lead until I signed my card.”
With 18 holes left to play, Purcell is looking to draw on his winning experience from the Black Desert NI Open presented by Tom McKibbin in July for another grandstand finish at the penultimate event of the 2024 Challenge Tour season.
“I have done it once this year and I can learn from that experience. Hopefully, I’ll be able to put my best foot forward tomorrow,” said Purcell.
Schmidt, meanwhile, started his front nine promisingly with four birdies for a bogey-free 32. But was relieved to end the day in pole position after struggling in the back nine where he dropped two shots on ten and 14.
“It was a bit of a grind today. I played really well on the front nine by taking my chances. But on the back nine, the weather started to get bad and it was a pretty tough test. I’m just happy to be able to grind out a half-decent score on the back nine,” said Schmidt.
Sweden’s Niklas Lemke posted a 67 to share third place with Spain’s Angel Ayora on 12 under par, while home favourite Ding Wenyi carded a 71 to share fifth place with Finland’s Oliver Lindell and England’s Jack Senior on 11 under.
The final round of the Hangzhou Open starts at 7:40 am local time with Purcell, Schmidt and Lemke teeing off at 9:30 am.
