Both Jonathan Caldwell and Cormac Sharvin missed the final day cut as devilish winds wreaked havoc on day three of the ISPS Handa Vic Open.
High winds made scoring extremely difficult on day three on the Beach Course and Clandeboye’s Caldwell was one of many to struggle as he went 10 shots worse than his previous two rounds with a five-over par 77.
That saw the Northern Irishman drop to five-under par and despite looking so promising over the first two days, the third round cut fell at minus-six which proved too much for Caldwell.
Conditions got the better of Cormac Sharvin too on a treacherous day in Victoria. The Ardglass rookie had looked set to collect his first cheque of the season but carded six bogeys in a round of 75 to miss out by two shots at four-under par.
Min Woo Lee will take a three shot lead into the final day after a stunning closing eagle moved Lee to 15 under after a 68 as he looks to follow in his sister’s footsteps and claim a first European Tour title on home soil.
The 21-year-old’s elder sister Minjee is a two time winner of the women’s event at 13th Beach Golf Club and was in the hunt again as the Lee clan set up the tantalising prospect of a family double in Victoria.
The men and women play the same courses for equal prize money this week and Minjee was five shots behind 54-hole leader Ayean Cho in the women’s event.
Australians Marcus Fraser and Travis Smyth were three shots behind Min Woo in the men’s event, two clear of Frenchman Robin Sciot-Siegrist and home trio Ashley Hall, Matthew Millar and Anthony Quayle.
Lee announced himself on the European Tour two years ago this week when he made the quarterfinals of the ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth as an amateur.
After making his professional and Rolex Series debut at the following season’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA, Lee achieved back to back top fives but narrowly missed out on keeping his playing privileges in his rookie campaign.
He recorded a best European Tour finish as he finished third at the Australian PGA Championship just before Christmas, and he will now look for a first win in just his 19th start.
“It was probably one of the best rounds I’ve ever played regardless of score,” he said.
“I’ve hit it pretty solid. There were a couple of shots that were bad but that happens in 50 kilometre winds so I’m pretty happy and should be proud of the way I played.
“I feel like I’m good enough to keep my card regardless of winning or not. I’m looking forward to if I do win but I’m just going to go out there and keep playing the way I am.
“I’m not sure how Minjee is going, hopefully she’s playing okay, and we can tussle it out to the end. It would be nice to win a tournament and I think it would be one of the only tournaments that a brother and sister has won, so that should be cool.”
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