Alexandre Kaleka has admitted he cannot wait to claim a second Challenge Tour victory after waiting three years since making a stunning professional debut with a win at the ALLIANZ Open de Lyon in 2009, as he chases the title going into the final day of the M2M Russian Challenge Cup.
The Frenchman moved into contention at Tseleevo Golf & Polo Club, outside Moscow, with a second successive one under par round of 71 to finish the third day on five under par and two shots off the lead held by Alessandro Tadini.
Kaleka has been on superb form of late with five top 20 finishes in his last six appearances including a season-best runner-up finish at the Credit Suisse Challenge, where he was beaten by compatriot Gary Stal in a play-off.
But he is craving another victory and is hoping to produce it in Russia on the final day at the Moscow venue.
“It’s been a long time since my win,” said the 25 year old. “I miss it! I turned professional five days earlier and then won but I certainly didn’t think it was easy because after that win I was exhausted but if I win this year it will a lot better than the last one.
“I'm not sure what the difference in my game has been lately, I just try and do the same things every day.
“Maybe I have been a little more aggressive recently, because that’s what you need on the Challenge Tour if you want to win tournaments but I guess that’s the same on The European Tour and the US PGA Tour.
"Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t but at least when it does you shoot low scores.
“It was a good score out there today,” he continued, speaking of his steady round which featuredtwo birdies and one bogey. “To be honest I played well and I didn’t hole a lot of putts so it could have been a lot better but I would take that any day of the week, even without the wind.
“I think the wind made it difficult and the iron shots were tough, especially from under the trees, it’s hard to judge and a few pin locations were in the corner so it was hard to read the lines.
“I think it’s going to be tough tomorrow as well. I'm confident going into tomorrow. I just need to try and shoot a low score, even with the bad conditions and we’ll see how I finish.”
