Moving day at the Rosa Challenge in Poland proved to be just that, with various lunges towards the top of the leaderboard. Spain’s Angel Ayora sits top of the pile heading into the final round after another solid day, carding a four-under to lead by two on -13. Dermot McElroy matched the leaders score to sit within striking distance on nine-under-par after his 66.
“Yeah, I played pretty good,” said McElroy off the back of his third round. “I kept it in play, which was good. Still struggling with the driver, it’s not particularly going the way I want it to, but I’m keeping it in play. But again, my iron play is very good, I had a couple of good up-and-downs today, which was great. It was a bit windier today than the other two days and I thought the pins were very tricky to get at so, four under was a good score,” added McElroy after his consistent showing. His only dropped shot of the round came on the par-four seventh while the birdied three of his final four to close out his day. He sits solo fifth heading into Sunday action with it all to play for as today proved there is a low number to be had around Rosa GC.
This was evident as the Italian Gregorio De Leo sent out a message to the pack with a course record nine-under 61. This sensational round from the 24-year-old rocketed him up the standings to sit in a tie for second spot on -11. He shares second spot with Swede, Jens Fahrbring who is still lurking with intent despite only managing to card a level par third round. De Leo’s nine-under will show the field that there is the possibility of a final day charge that should push players to be aggressive in the Sunday action.
Conor Purcell will rue the back-nine after turning bogey-free on five-under. The Portmarnock man had a horror start to his homeward leg with a bogey on the tenth followed by a pair of doubles on the 11th and again at the par-four 13th. He traded one more back and forth, but those four holes undid all his good early work as he finished out on even-par for the day. He sits tied for 20th spot on four-under-par.
Gary Hurley had a dream start, kicking off with a birdie opener before following up with an eagle on the par-five third. He couldn’t keep the momentum going, however as he handed two back before the turn. A double followed on the 11th, but he battled back with two birdies in a row from the 15th. His day rather fizzled out as he would hand those two straight back with a pair of dropped shots on his final two holes. He closed out on a one-over 71 and sits in a group of eight tied for 30th position. Hurley will be first out on Sunday as he heads out at 8.30 to kick off the final round. McElroy will be in the penultimate group at 10.14 with the leading trio heading out shortly after.
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