The international nature of The European Tour has seldom been more apparent than in the composition of the leaderboard going into the final round of The Barclays Scottish Open with nine different nationalities congregating at the top in search of one of golf’s great titles.
South African Tim Clark maintained his progress with a six under par 65 to follow his 67 and 66 to join Maarten Lafeber of The Netherlands in joint first place on a 15 under par total of 198.
One stroke behind are BMW champion, Angel Cabrera of Argentina, alongside Scotland’s Alastair Forsyth, born just a few miles away in Paisley and carrying the hopes of the home nation on 14 under par.
Australian Adam Scott reeled in the lowest round of a superb sun-drenched Saturday at Loch Lomond, a seven under par 64, to share fifth place on 201 along with Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee and Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke, while Spain’s Miguel Angel Jiménez is on 11 under par with two Englishmen, Luke Donald and Nick Dougherty.
No one nation rules the roost on The European Tour these days, as the top ten placings indicate. Two South Africans, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, have already claimed The Barclays Scottish Open title, and Clark is aiming to become the third.
“This is my fourth trip in a row here and every year I seem to have a good tournament” said Clark, who has shown signs in recent years of stepping out of the large shadows cast by his Major-winning compatriots.
“I think the course is a lot firmer than it’s been before and that’s allowed the tee shots to go a little further and the par fives more reachable. I think the course definitely plays better with firmer fairways. At things stand I think even those on nine under par still have a chance. I think that 16 or 17 under can still win this tournament.”
Lafeber, who won the 2004 KLM Open in his native Netherlands, stuck to his task superbly after enjoying the 36 hole lead, and a third round of 68 kept him at the forefront of the tournament.
He said: “I am happy in this position and that was my goal – to still be leading after three rounds. It’s very satisfying to have done that, but there are a lot of strong players behind me so I have to play really well tomorrow to finish on top.”
Forsyth tagged a 67 to his second round 64 to the delight of the big local crowd following him. A 25 footer at the last for a birdie three capped a fine day in which the Scot showed no sign of being intimidated by carrying the hopes of his fellow countrymen.
“I think it does put extra pressure on me” he admitted. “Probably these people will be thinking that a Scottish guy can win the tournament. But I have to put that to the back of my mind and focus on what I’m doing and just try to play the best golf I can. If it’s good enough, it’s good enough.”
Cabrera, who claimed the BMW Championship at Wentworth Club in May, always impresses with his immense power, and once again at Loch Lomond, he has been in irresistible form with his long hitting. However he has never won more than once in any one season and said: “I would love to achieve that. I feel I have a great chance.”
The forces ganging up behind Cabrera and Forsyth are fairly formidable. Ryder Cup player Donald weighed in with a second successive 67 for 11 under par while former winner Colin Montgomerie is on ten under after a 66. Two-time champion Ernie Els might have expected to be closer to the leaders, but a double bogey six at the last after driving into the loch, cost him two shots. However he finished with a 67 for ten under par and cannot be discounted.
