Conor Purcell’s hopes of a maiden Challenge Tour victory are slim after a one-over 72 sees him slip six shots back at the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge after battling wet conditions on moving day in Normandy.
The sole Irishman to make the cut started brightly and birdied two of the opening nine, but after trading an early birdie with an early bogey on the back side, he’d drop shots on each of the last three holes to fall back to seven-under, six back of Joel Moscatel and Wil Besseling who share a two-stroke lead heading into the final round.
Spaniard Moscatel began the day four shots back of the lead but gained ground quickly with birdies at the second, third and eighth in a bogey-free front nine. Despite heavy rain falling as the final groups made the turn, the 25-year-old fired four more birdies to card a six under 66 to go into the final round on 12 under par.
Moscatel, who already has a win on the Road to Mallorca this season after securing victory at the Challenge de España, was particularly happy with his scoring given the rainy conditions and is looking forward to being in contention for a second win of the year.
“I played really solid today, same as yesterday,” he said. “The end was tough with the rain, but my caddie and I did a good job, so I’m happy with that.
“The rain changed things a little bit. It was a bit uncomfortable because it was raining a lot, then stopped for a bit, then raining again. It’s also really hot, so having the rain start didn’t help.
“It would mean a lot [to win]. Every win is amazing, but there’s still a lot of golf to play, so anything can happen tomorrow.”
Dutchman Besseling, who entered his third round in a share of the overnight lead at ten under par, maintained his score after a solid front nine before making birdies on each of the three par fives on the back nine, to eventually post a two under 70 to join Moscatel at the top of the leaderboard.
The 38-year-old was pleased with his third-round score, despite finding it difficult to hit his approach shots near the pins at Golf PGA France du Vaudreuil.
“I’m happy with my score of two under,” he said. “I played steady, was good off the tee and didn’t make too many bogeys today. I couldn’t get it really close coming into the greens, but I stayed patient.
“I thought [the greens] reacted a little different compared to the other days. I hit the first green and spun it back with a 9 iron and some chips skipped through – I didn’t expect that.
“It would be nice to hit a few close tomorrow. I think the key point here is hitting the fairways and getting in position. I did that really well the last couple of days, so I’m going to do more of the same tomorrow and hopefully it’s going to be my day.”
German Marc Hammer shares third with Englishman George Mason and Australian Jeff Guan at ten under par, while Englishman Alfie Plant and Frenchman Benjamin Hébert are a shot further back in sixth. Three players are tied for eighth at eight under par, including Frenchman Félix Mory and 2016 Ryder Cup player Chris Wood from England.
The final round of the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge will get under way at 7:20am local time, with Moscatel and Besseling teeing it up alongside Hammer at 11:21am.
Leave a comment