Carballo Maintains One Stroke Advantage in Guatemala

A superb 20 foot birdie putt on the 18 green allowed Argentina’s Miguel Carballo to maintain his one stroke lead at the Abierto Movistar de Guatemala going into the final round at the Hacienda Nueva Country Club. The 27 year old posted a third round of one under 71 to post a three round aggregate of 13 under 203 – one stroke clear of his fellow countryman Hernan Rey and Spain’s Juan Parron at this join sanctioned event between the European Challenge Tour and the Tour de las Americas (TLA).

Rey posted a third round 68, while Parron, who among the first round leaders but then fell out of the running with a poor second round, hauled himself back into contention with a sparkling 65. Along with Miguel Guzman of Argentina, Parron produced the lowest score of the day to climb a staggering 43 spots on the leaderboard and move to within one stroke of Carballo.

Sweden’s Johan Axgren, who kept in touch with the tournament leaders throughout the first two rounds, made his move during round three with a four under par 68 that moved him up to fourth place and just two off the pace going into the final round.

Mauricio Molina of Argentina is fifth thanks to a remarkable 66 that included the shot of the day. The 39-year old from Rio Cuarto made a glorious eagle two at the par for ninth hole where he deposited a sand wedge straight into the middle of the cup from 104 yards.

It was Carballo, however, who remained the man to catch after the third round, and he is hoping form an improvement in form going into the crucial final round in Guatemala City.

“It was a long day,” admitted Carballo after finishing his round. “I had a poor day on the greens. That’s the reason why it was such a difficult round. Besides that, the wind was a factor that made things much harder for most of us. Fortunately, I was able to recover by sinking that twenty feet putt at the last hole.

“I expect things to be different tomorrow – I have to improve my putting to have a chance of winning because I need to practice in order to sink the putts that didn’t fall today.”

Parron was the first to admit that he rode his luck during the third round, but was delighted to be back in the running for his maiden Challenge tour victory. “Everything went my way. I knew that shooting three or four under par would allow me to climb a few spots, but I never expected to shoot as low as seven under for the day. I’m extremely happy!” said the Spaniard, who notched six birdies, one eagle and just one bogey.

Rey, meanwhile, was able to remain as the most consistent player on the field. “The wind’s force and its change of direction completely transformed every hole on the course,” he explained. “In the holes we used to reach the green with the driver, like No 10, today we had to hit an 8-iron. The strategy had to be different.”