The Casa Serena Open was going right to the wire after Barry Lane bogeyed the 11thhole in the final round, meaning Roger Chapman and Peter Fowler were just three shots behind with six holes to play.
Lane managed to negotiate the front nine without dropping a single shot, instead building on his three shot overnight lead with birdies on the first and third holes for a two under par front nine of 33, while Chapman was one under par at the turn after two birdies and a bogey.
Lane had added this tournament to his schedule with the hope of catching Fowler at the top of the European Senior Tour Order of Merit and in order to do that this week, he would need to win while hoping the Australian finished outside the top three but Fowler wasn’t giving up the fight.
He picked up consecutive birdies on the fifth, sixth and seventh holes before following that run with a bogey on the eighth and he was tied second with Chapman going on to the 13thtee.
Sam Torrance had earlier darted up the leaderboard as he carded six birdies in a stunning front nine to join the front-runners at Casa Serena Golf in the Czech Republic but his challenge for the title was knocked back by a run of five pars followed by a bogey on the back nine.
He is currently five shots off the pace alongside Marc Farry, Carl Mason and defending champion Gary Wolstenholme.
