Englishman Miles Tunnicliff maintained his grip on the Diageo Championship at Gleaneagles with a third round 72 to remain on nine under par and take a three shot lead from Denmark’s Anders Hansen, Spain’s Santiago Luna and Australian Nick O’Hern – after Hansen racked up eight birdies in 12 holes to join the chasing pack with a sizzling 64.
The 2002 Volvo PGA Champion kept his card bogey free over the opening six holes of the Centenary Course at Gleaneagles before he exploded into top form with six birdies and an eagle to join Luna and O’Hern at six under par 210.
Hansen said: “It just went a little crazy all of a sudden. I felt that I was playing well over the first six holes but I just wasn’t making the putts. On the seventh I hit it really close to about three feet and then made a six footer on the next. But I didn’t get up and down for birdie on the ninth, missed from three feet at the tenth and at that point I just felt that nothing was happening.
“But then I made a 15 footer on the 11th and a 20 footer on the 12th for eagle and after that things looked pretty good after that.”
Things have been looking pretty good for Hansen all season. The Dane has notched five top ten finishes on the 2004 European Tour International Schedule and is currently 38th on the Volvo Order of Merit.
He is now looking to step back onto the The European Tour winner’s podium, but acknowledged that it will be difficult to do so on Sunday afternoon, considering Tunnicliff’s three shot lead.
“I hope my next win is not too far away. This week it is probably going to be hard but at least I have sent a message out to Miles that he is still going to going to have to go out and play well to win the tournament.”
The tournament leader was pleased to still be in pole position after three rounds, but was the first to admit that, in the relatively calm conditions compared to rounds one and two, he could have put even more daylight between himself and the chasing pack.
“I’m a little bit frustrated at not having put a better score together because I felt very comfortable going out there today,” said Tunnicliff. “I started nicely and was swinging the club good but I was a little bit unfortunate and might have finished a couple of shots better than I did.”
Luna, meanwhile, finished with a birdie on 18 to get to six under and complete his third round 67. The 41 year old Spaniard also revealed the best way to cope with the variable Scottish weather conditions.
“I will just turn up at the first tee and see how the wind is blowing and then play!” he said. “That’s when you see what will happen – there is no real point in making plans because the conditions can be so different here.”
O’Hern’s gameplan is simple – “If I can get the driver going and see a few putts drop then I can pull it off,” said the Australian left hander after signing for a third round 70.
The English duo of Russell Claydon and Gary Evans both fired 69 to join defending champion Søren Kjeldsen (67) on five under par 211.
