Adrian Meronk will take a one-stroke lead into the final round of the Turkish Airlines Challenge at Samsun Golf Club after posting a seven under par 65 on another day of incredibly high quality on the European Challenge Tour.
Meronk’s three-round total of 21 under par means he has a one-shot advantage over playing partner and overnight leader Mark Flindt Haastrup who carded a four under 68 for a 20 under par total, while English duo Matthew Jordan and Ben Stow are a shot further back on 19 under par.
The Pole immediately began building on his overnight total of 14 under par with a pair of birdies and an eagle on the front nine before posting four more gains and a single bogey on the back nine, meaning he will begin the final round one shot ahead of Haastrup, with whom he will resume battle on the final day.
It was another excellent day for Meronk, who recorded his only bogey on the 505-yard par four 16th hole.
“It was pretty solid again,” Meronk said. “I played good golf and didn’t make many mistakes so that was the key again.
“My plan was the same as every day. I changed the club for a couple of tee shots to stay out of danger but other than that, it was the same.
“The 16th is probably the hardest hole and definitely the longest of the par fours. The landing area for driver is pretty small. I hit a good drive actually but took the wrong club for the second shot and left it a little bit short of the green and just didn’t make up and down. It was still a good effort for a par and I couldn’t do much more.”
During the 2018 season, Meronk placed himself in promising positions on numerous occasions but was not able to close out victory, something he hopes will change on Sunday.
“I have been in this position before so I have some experience but I’m just going to try and play my game as best I can and try to enjoy it,” Meronk.
“I’ve been there before so I’ve seen my name on the leaderboard many times before and last year I wasn’t able to close it but I hope tomorrow will be the day I do. If not, that’s fine, we just move on.
“It would be great to win tomorrow. I don’t even want to think about it now; I just want to play 18 good holes tomorrow and see what happens.
“I’m just going to do the same stuff. I think my strategy is pretty good for this course and has been working pretty well this week so I’m just going to stick to it and not change anything.”
Grégory Havret carded the low round of the day, a sublime ten under par 62 to reach 16 under overall, before Stow posted a nine under 63 while Niclas Johansson and Santiago Tarrio Ben both signed for eight under par rounds of 64 to move into a tie for ninth ahead of the final day.
Meronk was one of five players to post rounds of 65, with Junior Ryder Cup star Nicolai Højgaard, Jonas Kolbing, Moritz Lampert and Martin Simonsen also taking advantage of scoring opportunities by carding seven under par rounds at Samsun Golf Club.
Behind Jordan and Stow in tied third are first round leader Francesco Laporta and Connor Syme in tied fifth on 18 under par, both of whom posted six under par rounds of 66.
The final round will begin at 7.00am local time, with Meronk and Haastrup teeing off in the final game at 11.51am.
