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McLardy and Sullivan Lead as the Conditions Toughen on the Mountains of Madeira
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McLardy and Sullivan Lead as the Conditions Toughen on the Mountains of Madeira

South Africa’s Andrew McLardy and Welshman Kyron Sullivan share the lead at the dual ranking Madeira Island Open Caixa Geral de Depositos after a day of blustery winds and some biting cold conditions on the mountain tops of Santo da Serra. The leaders posted three round totals of nine under par 207 and are being closely pursued by two European Tour champions, Dutchman Robert-Jan Derksen and Scotland’s Gary Orr.

McLardy shot one of the best rounds of the day, a three under 69 to tie Sullivan atop the leaderboard, where the Welshman has been placed since opening the tournament with a 64 amid some perfect conditions.

What a difference two days makes though, as the wind picked up and the temperature dropped at the tricky Santo da Serra venue to create conditions that made Sullivan’s opening eight under par score seem impossible.

McLardy coped with the testing conditions the best of the leaders, picking up four birdies and dropping just the one shot en route to his 69. The 31 year old has just recovered from a viral infection that cause him to miss the cut in his last two Tour events – the Enjoy Jakarta Standard Chartered Indonesia Open and the Estoril Open de Portugal Caixa Geral de Depositos – and was therefore delighted to be in contention for his maiden European Tour win.

He said: “I had just the one bogey today, I chipped and putted beautifully, was very consistent and am in contention again which is always nice. I haven’t played out here on The European Tour for a while and then the last two weeks I did play – in Jakarta and Portugal – I was just shockingly sick after picking up a virus in China.

“I just felt terrible, but at least I got my health back – that’s the main thing. I just had no energy whatsoever. In Jakarta it was 100 degrees and then we came back to Portugal and I felt cold all the time. I was fighting whatever it was so it’s nice to be healthy.

“The wind blew very hard down the bottom of the course today, to the extent that we were punching five irons in from 160 yards, so it was really blowing hard at times. That just makes a sub 70 round all the more satisfying. It was awesome to do that in these conditions.”

Sullivan was just as pleased with his own round of one over 73 after getting off to a poor start and going to the turn in 38. He managed to get one of those shots back on the way back to the clubhouse to stay at the top of the leaderboard with McLardy.

“I finished really well today and holed a lot of good putts towards the end. I birdied 15, holed a good six footer across the slope on 16 and from four feet on the 17th and 18th, so hopefully I will be able to take that through and finish on top of the tree tomorrow,” said the Welshman.

“This golf course is just about getting into position. As soon as you get out of position then it becomes very difficult to make par, and the greens are very slopey and quick. But it’s a good day for me and hopefully I can finish the job tomorrow.”

To finish the job, both leaders will have to resist the challenges from the more experienced Derksen and Orr.

Derksen, who won the 2003 Dubai Desert Classic, is hoping for similar conditions for the final round; while Orr, the 2000 Victor Chandler British Masters and Algarve Portuguese Open champion is happy to be back in the mix going into the final round.

Derksen said: “It was quite difficult today. When I started my round I was thinking that anything around par would be a good score and I managed to get it to one under today so that was a good score. I’m pleased. I’m just looking forward to tomorrow and I hope we can have similar conditions to what we have today because it will be a lot tougher, but that is the way I’d prefer it.”

Orr said: “I’m pleased with that. It was blowing quite a bit out there today and I managed to play quite well. I was back here for the 08:30 restart and it was windy and cold all day, but they were still pretty good conditions. We certainly needed the jumpers and waterproofs this morning!

“The last few years haven’t been good for me so I have been working hard on my game over the winter and trying to sharpen things up. Hopefully I’m seeing some progress.

“My wins at the British Masters and the Portuguese Open were a long time ago now but, while they are obviously nice memories, I’m looking to the future now and hoping to reproduce that kind of form and win a few tournaments. It’s nice to be playing well and I’m looking forward to tomorrow. It’s always nice to know that I have done it before and therefore can do it again, but every tournament is different. I’m just looking forward to tomorrow and seeing what it brings.”

Among the four players who are only one behind Derksen and Orr and just two behind the leaders on seven under par is another former Open de Portugal winner, England’s Van Philips, who joins his countryman John Bickerton, Ireland’s David Higgins and New Zealand’s Stephen Scahill.

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