The Estoril Open de Portugal is set for a nail-biting climax at the Quinta da Marinha Oitavos Golfe with ten players within five strokes of leader Alexander Noren of Sweden going into the final round.
With the gale force winds that swept through the field on day one of the Estoril Open de Portugal returning to Oitavos, Noren blew his way to the top of the leaderboard with an excellent three under par 68, to set the leading score of six under par 207.
He leads by one from English rookie Ross McGowan, who recovered brilliantly from a third round front nine of 40 to come back to the clubhouse in 32 for a one over 72 and a five under total.
Considering the way he started the day, McGowan’s back nine was hugely impressive, but he was to be outdone by the Spanish amateur Pablo Martin-Benavides, who covered Oitavos’s closing nine holes in an astounding 29.
Martin-Benavides turned in level par 36 before adding that breathtaking second half to a third round of five under 66, which took him into a share of third place alongside England’s Graeme Storm.
Hard to believe as it may be, Martin-Benavides’s lofty position on the leaderboard is not the highest position he has ever held at a European Tour event. The young Spaniard – still only 20 – led the 2003 Canarias Open de España after three rounds as a 17 year old, but played poorly under the intense final round pressure to finish in 20th place.
Despite the fact the fact that he still an amateur Martin-Benavides has gained a wealth of experience on the American Collegiate circuit, where he was ranker the Number One player in the USA last season.
“I feel good,” said Martin-Benavides. “And I hope that I have matured a little bit since the Canarias three years ago! I am just going to go out there tomorrow and try to play one shot at a time and deal with the situation. I learned a lot that day Every time you play in that kind of pressure you learn a lot.
“I was actually still at school that week and I was actually taking exams that week so I brought my books to the tournament to study – not this time!”
Talking of study, the Estoril Open de Portugal’s last match of the final round contains three player inextricably linked with studying, with Noren, Martin-Benavides and McGowan having all spent the majority of their young golfing careers on scholarships to American Universities.
Noren and Martin-Benavides were both at the Oklahoma State University (Martin-Benavides is still a student there, although plans to turn professional this coming summer), while McGowan went to the University of Tennessee.
Noren is looking forward to the final round match up, and the chance to improve his record against his Spanish opponent.
“I played with Pablo for a year,” said the Swede. “We are really good friends – I had dinner with him earlier this week. And when I went back to Oklahoma last month I saw him every night so he’s a really good friend of mine and really good player. He beat me in almost every tournament in College, but he was the best player in the country that year.
“We’re thinking about dinner tonight, but he eats so late because he’s Spanish and I need my rest!”
While three of The European Tour’s future stars play in the last match of the day at Oitavos, they will be pursued by some of the most experienced men on Tour, with Open Champion Paul Lawrie and former Volvo PGA Championship winner Andrew Oldcorn joined by tournament winners Alistair Forsyth, Stephen Gallacher, Michael Jonzon, Charl Schwartzel and Sven Strüver in the ten strong group of players withing five strokes of Noren’s lead.
