England’s Bob Cameron carded a one under par 71 to move into a one shot lead after the second round of the Irvine Whitlock Seniors Classic at La Moye.Cameron goes into the final round on three under par 141 and a single shot ahead of America’s John Benda who carded his second successive 71.
Overnight leader, Scotland’s John Chillas, returned a 75 to drop into a share of third place alongside Rex Caldwell, Guillermo Encina, Martin Poxon Bertus Smit and D. J. Russell while another American, rookie Doug Johnston, was alone in ninth place after posting a two under par 70 for a level par aggregate of 144.
Meanwhile, Sam Torrance, bidding to win his third successive Seniors Tour title returned a level par 72, to go into the last round four shots behind the leader.
Cameron made a dreadful start to his round dropping two shots at the 514 yard par-five and another at the 416 yard par-four fifth. However, he pulled one back with a birdie on the seventh and then raced home in 33 to give him a great chance to win for the first time since 2004.
The highlight of the Englishman’s round came at the 495 yard par-five11th where he achieved that rarest of birds, a tap-in eagle.
“I hit a great three-wood which hit the flag and stopped just inches away,” said Cameron.
“After the start I had, a 71 is pretty good, particularly on this golf course. You’re on a fine line everywhere. One little mistake and you can have a disaster on your hands.
“I just like to think I can keep playing well tomorrow and, if I can do that, who knows what might happen.”
Benda flew across the Atlantic just to play in this event and it could well prove to be a worthwhile decision if he can maintain the sort of form he has shown over the first two days.
The American also dropped a couple of shots during his outward half of 36 but then birdied the 11th, 12th and 14th before dropping two shots over his last four holes.
“It was a shame that I dropped shots at the 15th and 18th but, overall, I’m delighted with the way I played,” he said. “Before I came here, if you’d told me that I’d be one shot out of the lead going into the final round, I would to be delighted. Now I want to capitalise on the position. A top-10 would get me into next week’s event in Wales. A win, on the other hand, would change my life forever.”
Chillas started the day with a two shot lead after an opening 68 but fell into a share of third after dropping three shots to par in a somewhat untidy round.
The Scotsman’s troubles started when he hit a 7-iron into a bush at the rear of the 154 yard par-4 12th. That cost him a five and he also dropped another shot at the 180 yard par-3 14th before getting back to two over par with a birdie on the 342 yard par-4 15th. However, he missed the green with a wedge at the 419 yard par-4 17th to end the round seven shot worse off than the day before.
“Two mental errors cost me,” admitted the former club professional from Glenbervie. “I tried to play a nice little 7-iron into the 12th but it was never the right club and I ended up in a bush at the back of the green.
“On the 17th I got a little cute with the second shot. I tried to get it close but it bounced straight left and ended up down in the gully.”
“It was a battle of wills out there,” he added. “It’s tough because the course is so hard and fast. All you can do is accept the bad bounces and concentrate on the shot in hand.”
One of the best rounds of the day came from American rookie Doug Johnston who was making his Seniors Tour debut after earning a conditional Tour card at last year’s Qualifying School at Pinta in Portugal.
Johnston, 55, who in nicknamed “Mr Monday” due to his success at getting through Monday qualifying on the Champions Tour in America, three-putted the last but still carded a fine two under par 70.
“I loved it out there today,” said the American who was born in Wisconsin but now lives in Weirsdale, Florida, “It’s so different to playing golf in America. Over there, you just hit it at the flag and watch it stop. Here, you need to use your imagination to get round and I’m really enjoying that.
“My goal now is to get a top-10 finish tomorrow because that would get me into next week’s event in Wales.”
Meanwhile, pre-tournament favourite, Sam Torrance, who arrived in Jersey having won on his last two outings at the Sharp Italian Seniors Open and the AIB Irish Seniors Open, returned a level par 72 to go into the final round tied with Terry Gale, Alan Tapie and Simon Owen, fours shot behind Cameron on one over par 143.
The former Ryder Cup captain dropped three shots to par over his first five holes but then bounced back with birdies at the 7th, 8th and 11th go give him a great chance to win his seventh European Seniors Tour title.
“I’m going to have to shoot a low round tomorrow if I’m going to have any chance at all,” said Torrance. “Having said that, I was four behind going into the last round in Ireland last week and managed to win in a play-off, so you never know. “I will just have to start out steadily and see what happens.”
The concurrent Pro-Am event was won by Barbados resident, John Harvey who, together with a different professional each day, returned rounds of 67, 61 and 64 to finish with a 24 under par aggregate of 268.
That put him five shots ahead of Roy Henson and six in front of Dutchman, Wijnand Pon and Englishman Stuart Crossley .
