Sam Horsfield was delighted to see his patient approach pay off as he kept himself right in contention for a second win of the UK Swing at the 2020 Celtic Classic.
The Englishman won his maiden European Tour title two weeks ago at the Hero Open and will head into the final round at The Celtic Manor resort just one shot behind 54 hole leader Connor Syme.
After entering day three with a one shot lead, Horsfield was moving backwards with eight straight pars but ended that run with a two putt birdie on the par five ninth.
Further gains would follow on the 14th and 16th and Horsfield was proud of how he stayed the course with his plan when the putts were not dropping.
"Me and Mick (Seaborn, caddie) were just talking about it on the 18th tee, the round I played today would have been very unusual for me in my first year I came out here," he said.
"I just stuck with it today, stayed patient and when I first came out I was more aggressive and more just fiery, almost. It’s been a long time working, and to see that today, the result, was nice.
"I think I hit 15 greens or something like that. I gave myself a lot of opportunities and hopefully the putter gets warm for tomorrow.
"Today, I was so calm out there. I don’t know if you guys can see it or not but I played with Thomas Pieters and we had a great time.
"I never got anxious or felt like I needed to get something going. I just sort of let everything happen and that’s one thing that Terry (Mundy, Horsfield’s manager) and I have been talking about a lot; just let things happen, don’t force them, don’t do stupid stuff and today, I hit a lot of greens and gave myself a lot of opportunities."
Sebastian Soderberg is one shot behind Horsfield after the Swede was also bogey free in a 65, and he too will be looking for European Tour win number two on Sunday.
"I’m very pleased," he said. "It was a very stress-free round really. All of my misses were on the high side so I felt like I had a lot of easy two-putts from 30 feet maybe.
"I managed to sink a few good ones from 20 feet and I really got it going on the back nine, so I feel very good.
"I feel like you can be very aggressive. I did hit a few irons poorly today and on the water holes there are a few misses but I feel like if you can get in sync you can really attack a lot of pins out there, especially if the conditions are like these. There’s barely any wind, so you can really take advantage."
