Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo - Day three digest

Sunday, 02 July 2023

There was a local flavour in the tie at the top, Baldwin cracked the code at the 14th, the sand play was exquisite and the golfing Gods were fickle on day three of the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo.

Here is everything you need to know from Moving Day in the UK.

Six-way tie at the top

Local hero Andy Sullivan enjoyed a birdie-birdie finish to make it a six-way tie at the top heading into the final day. Joost Luiten and Guido Migliozzi had set an early target of seven under but it seemed unlikely they would be at the top at the end of the day when they were signing their cards. On a frenetic day of scoring in the wind, however, that proved to be the case as Sullivan, fellow Englishmen James Morrison and Oliver Wilson and Dane Niklas Nørgaard all finished at the same score. German Maximilian Kieffer was then at six under, a shot clear of Frenchman Romain Langasque and South African duo Bryce Easton and Justin Walters, with 39 players within five shots of the lead.

Luiten banging on the door

Luiten was determined to keep knocking on the door of DP World Tour win number seven after putting himself right in contention for the second week running. Amid some chaotic scoring at the top of the leaderboard, Luiten carded a 68 to share the lead seven days after taking a three-shot advantage into the final round of the BMW International Open. He was still ahead stood on the 17th tee in Munich but a bogey and a two-shot swing saw him lose out by one and secure a fourth top-three finish of the season. "I'll keep knocking and I'll keep trying," he said at The Belfry. "I'm playing good, so it will open some day. If I can keep doing what I did today, hole some putts and stay out of trouble, that would be good."

Baldwin boosts Prostate Cancer UK with an ace

Matthew Baldwin was delighted to raise £50,000 for Prostate Cancer UK as he made his first hole-in-one on the DP World Tour. The 37-year-old Englishman holed his tee-shot with a five iron from 198 yards at the par three 14th, the same hole where Sir Nick Faldo recorded an ace during the 1993 Ryder Cup. As part of fundraising efforts to support leading men’s health charity Prostate Cancer UK, tournament title partner Betfred pledged their support by offering to donate £50,000 if a hole-in-one was made on the iconic hole. “It’s an incredible feeling,” said Baldwin. “It’s quite close to me, my fiancée Claire, her dad has had prostate cancer and is recovering from it, and my best friend’s dad, Phil, who also sponsors me, he’s recovering from prostate cancer at the moment. So it’s a nice touch to him and also everyone else who suffers from it."