Scotland's Andrew Coltart shot a third round 69 to take a three stroke lead into the final round of the Great North Open at De Vere Slaley Hall as he chases his second European Tour title.
After sharing the overnight lead with Bradley Dredge of Wales following consecutive rounds of 68, Coltart pulled clear with three birdies in a front nine of 33 to move to 11 under par. The Ryder Cup player found himself in front after the second hole when Dredge failed to get up and down from the left of the second green and while Dredge made amends in style at the par five fourth, hitting a long iron to 15 feet and holing the putt for an eagle three, Coltart safely two putted from a similar distance for a birdie to remain in a share of the lead with his playing partner at nine under par.
Coltart moved ahead again with a birdie on the fifth and stretched his lead to two shots with another from ten feet on the seventh. Coltart moved to 12 under with a fourth birdie of the day on the par five 11th but dropped his only shot on the uphill par four 15th to complete a round of 69, three under par.
"There are a lot of guys capable of shooting great scores but I would be disappointed not to win, that's only natural," said Coltart, "I have a good chance and if I can keep doing the job I'm doing it's going to make it difficult for someone else.
"I'm very happy that I got the job done out there today and hopefully I can do a similar job on Sunday. I played reasonably well and managed to hole some putts and that's what is going to make the difference."
After his eagle on the fourth, the birdies dried up for Dredge but he remains in joint second alongside Jamie Spence of England on eight under par after rounds of 72 and 70 respectively while five players occupy fourth place – Englishmen Andrew Beal, Daren Lee and Paul Casey along with Australians Scott Gardiner and Lucas Parsons.
"I was disappointed as I didn't putt well, didn't attack the hole," said Dredge. "I was happy with my ball striking and will focus on attacking the hole on Sunday."
Spence was more erratic in his 70 with six birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey six at the ninth but could prove the biggest threat to Coltart tomorrow. The 38-year-old is more than capable of shooting low scores with a round of 60 on The European Tour to his credit and the latest of his two career titles, the Moroccan Open in 2000, was sealed with a course record 64 in the final round when he also came from three shots behind on the last day.
Parsons also mounted a challenge, picking up shots at the tenth, 14th and 16th to move within two strokes of the lead but double bogeyed the last to fall four behind and Coltart’s lead remained intact.
