(Reuters) - England’s Gary Emerson saw the eagle land twice for him in the third round of The KLM Open at Hilversumsche Golf Club in the Netherlands and the feat earned the 41 year old a one shot lead as he seeks his second European Tour International Schedule title.
Emerson began spectacularly by holing out with his second shot for an eagle two on the 437 yard par four first and then fought back from a bogey-double bogey spell in the middle of his round with a 12ft eagle putt on the 12th on his way to a one under par 69 for a nine under par total of 201.
That left him a stroke better than his playing partner and compatriot Paul Broadhurst (69) and Spain's Gonzalo Fernandez Castano, whose 66 was the joint best of the day.
The enigmatic round saw Emerson forge ahead in his bid to add to the BMW Russian Open title he claimed in Moscow last year. Indeed, after holing out with a sand iron from 117 yards at the first, his overnight one shot lead was extended to three, but after that, he stalled slightly.
His lead was then cut back to one shot when he bogeyed the sixth after plugging in a bunker face and he then dropped two shots on the seventh by finding heavy rough and a bunker.
A fine shot into the long 12th ensured no-one caught him, however, and though he did not have a birdie on his card, his eagle return gave him hope of earning a two year exemption.
Emerson's Russian win was in a co-sanctioned event with the Challenge Tour and only earned a one-year exemption.The Englishman admitted however that he was determined to keep his feet on the ground, though, just as he did after his notable opening shot.
"It is hard to keep on an even keel after a start like that and I had a sticky patch in the middle of the round but I never felt it slipping away from me," said the leader. "It's going to be a big day for me tomorrow but I'm determined to take it one step at a time and try stay in the present."
The leader is another follower of magician and part-time hypnotherapist Jamil Qureshi, who has already helped Nick Dougherty and Steve Webster to wins this year. Emerson said he would be contacting his mind coach, who is in America working for Dougherty in the US Open, for advice before the final round.
Fernandez-Castano, who briefly led the recent Telecom Italia Open, mounted his bid for a first win in his rookie year as the 24 year old Madrid based golfer came back from an early bogey with five birdies.
Broadhurst, a 1991 Ryder Cup player, without a victory for 10 years until victory in the Estoril Open de Portugal Caixa Geral de Depositos in April picked up two late birdies to harbour hopes of a second win in 10 weeks.
“It certainly was an up and down day for me,” said Broadhurst. “I didn’t play too bad early on but I misclubbed at number five and went over the back of the green to make bogey and then at the sixth I played for the front of the green, pitched on the top of the trap but didn’t release down to the hole for another bogey.
“But I knuckled down and battled back well because you are going to make bogeys out there, I don’t care who you are, the way it was set up. Nobody was going away either so you just have to try and hang around.”
Fernandez-Castano said: “I don’t want to think about tomorrow just yet but when I get there I will just try and concentrate on each shot which is what you have to do on each shot on this tough course. But I am looking forward to tomorrow and hopefully it will be a great day.”
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