Calum Hill will take a three-shot lead into the final round of the Euram Bank Open at Golf Club Adamstal as he goes in search of his second European Challenge Tour title.
search of his second European Challenge Tour title.
The 24-year-old tops the leaderboard on 14 under par after a three under par 67 on day three to sit three strokes clear of England’s Matt Ford in second place, who also carded a round of 67 to place himself right in the mix as he looks to better his tied sixth finish at Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge last week.
Hill is hoping to add the Euram Bank Open title to his Galgorm Resort & Spa Northern Ireland Open, presented by Modest! Golf win last year but acknowledges he will have to approach the final round differently to his maiden victory as he holds a significant lead, as opposed to a four-shot deficit which he made up in Northern Ireland.
“It’s a different position to what I was in for my last win, but it’s a bit nicer,” he said. “You’re hoping to win tomorrow rather than the previous one, which was a little bit of a shock. I’m sure it will be enjoyable, and it’ll be fun being in the last group on the final day.
“It’s really nice to have my family here this week, I like having my family’s support. It’s obviously nice having some support and having some cheers here and there. I’m having to try my best so they can have an enjoyable week as well so it’s good.”
Hill took three shots more on day three than his second round 64, but he was pleased with how he scored when he takes into account the pressure he was under as he teed off with the lead.
“I think the score was pretty good for the situation, it was a bit more pressured than a normal round,” he said.
“Making a few pars in a row is okay; I had some putts for birdie which just weren’t dropping, and they weren’t really all that close. The tee shot on 13 is a nightmare and that’s the second time I’ve gone in that hazard on the left, unfortunately.
“It was a bit of a kickback and a bit of a pain because if you get through that hole – or even find the fairway – you’ve got a decent chance and then you’ve got a few holes in a row where you can make some birdies because they’re quite gettable.
“So that was annoying, but I managed to make a birdie on 15 which was nice so I could get back to where I was before 13 and finished with a couple of pars.
“I was a little bit aware of other people but I was just trying to play to how I think I should score around this golf course for how it sets up to my game and how I feel right now. Mostly, I was just competing with myself over the last couple of holes, as opposed to looking at the leaderboard.”
Sweden’s Pontus Widegren became the third player of the week to tie the course record with a superb bogey-free round of 62 to leap 37 places into tied third, and he sits alongside Englishman Marcus Armitage and Oliver Lindell of Finland one shot behind Ford in second place and four shots off the lead.
Then comes a group of eight players in a tie for sixth place on nine under par, headed by Portugal’s José-Filipe Lima, who signed for a five under par 65.
With the threat of thunderstorms on Sunday afternoon, the final round will be a two-tee start, with Hill joined by Ford and Widegren in the final group at 9.05am local time on the first tee.
