Saturday might traditionally be known as ‘Moving Day’ at golf tournaments but nothing could have been further from the truth in Madeira as tournament leader Hennie Otto maintained his stranglehold on the top of the leaderboard.
The 31 year old South African, looking for his first victory on The European Tour International Schedule, began the third round of the Madeira Islands Open BPI – Portugal four shots clear of the field and ended the day five ahead thanks to his third consecutive 67 on the Santo da Serra course which gave him a 15 under par total of 201.
The only thing which did change on the most pleasant afternoon weather-wise of the week were his nearest challengers.
At the start of the third round, his closest pursuers were Germany’s Sven Strüver and Fredrik Widmark of Sweden and although they both maintained their position in the top ten going into the final day, it was Scotland’s Alastair Forsyth and Gary Clark of England who emerged in Otto’s wing mirrors from the pack.
Forsyth carded an adventurous 66 for a ten under par total of 206 while Clark ended the day one behind him after the best round of the tournament to date, an eight under par 64, gave him a nine under par total of 207.
But the day, once again, belonged to Otto who looked like he was going to make the final day a formality when he began the third round with birdies at each of the first three holes before adding another one at the sixth for good measure.
But his assault on par ended there and his only other gain was a closing birdie three on the 386 yard 18th. Nevertheless, he was more than happy with his position with one round to go.
“I missed a few birdie chances out there on the front nine, especially on the seventh and the ninth but I also got lucky on number five when I pulled it left and hit the tree and it went back in bounds so that made up for the misses,” he said.
“But I played solid and they are there to catch me. I just tried to two putt every green and if a birdie came, it came. I made a few good saves out there too and I broke the 30 mark again on putting so I’m happy. I made 28 putts today.”
Closest challenger Forsyth had a true rollercoaster of a day, the highlights being an eagle two at the 14th where he pitched in from 80 yards and eight birdies including four in a row from the second, but the downside were his four dropped shots, two thanks to three putts and two thanks to missing the greens.
“It could have been a really good day,” he said. “I should have been better even though 66 is pretty good. But it is that type of golf course and you can get frustrated with the type of shots you drop when you only have maybe a wedge into the green. But making a lot of birdies shows that I am playing good golf.
“You don’t know what the weather is going to be like tomorrow and today it was certainly a day for the low scores and Hennie got off to a great start too and was always well in front. But who knows what will happen.”
While the majority of the limelight centred on Otto once again, there were plenty plaudits handed out elsewhere, the main one going to third placed Clark, whose excellent eight under par 64 was not only the best round of the day, but of the week as a whole.
The 36 year old Challenge Tour member carded nine birdies in total and only shed one shot to the Santo da Serra par – that coming at the 15th where he three putted – but understandably he was delighted with his showing.
“You have to hit the ball close to the hole and hopefully get the putts in. I put the ball in the right places and holed a few putts – that was the key today,” he said. “Also the weather was a lot easier today. We had the best side of the draw.
“I played 11 holes this morning (to complete his second round) and the weather was perfect really, so I can’t complain. I hit a lot of close shots and put it in the right spots on the greens. My putter was quite hot as well and it just happened for me.
“Hopefully the weather will stay good for us and it will be a good day tomorrow. This is an important tournament because it gives the guys with lower rankings the chance to do well. All the guys are trying to win the tournament as it gives you a two year exemption on Tour so it is a big deal.
“Hopefully I can keep it going and keep it somewhere under par tomorrow. Hennie is obviously running away a little bit and it will be hard to catch him but you never know – golf’s a funny game.”
Further down the leaderboard, heading the local challenge was Hugo Santos, the former Portuguese amateur champion, who finished in a tie for 20th place after a third round 71 gave him a two under par total of 212.
Santos led a proud day for Portuguese golf for aside from the 28 year old himself, the host nation supplied José-Filipe Lima, Nuno Campino, Ricardo Santos and the 16 year old amateur Pedro Figueiredo for the weekend’s action.
The haul represented by far the most successful weekend for Portugal in the 15 year history of the Madeira tournament – three players making the cut being the previous best – and represented the first time in European Tour history that a tournament has featured five Portuguese players in the final two rounds.
