John Murphy’s chances of victory at the HotelPlanner Tour’s English Trophy at The Caversham looked to be slipping through his grasp but a back-nine 31 thrust him back into the mix.
The Kinsale man, playing on a National Invite, shot rounds of 65 and 69 to reach the halfway mark just two in arrears, but a slow start to round three saw him bogey two of his opening three holes and though he birdied the par-5 fifth, he bogeyed the next par-5 and reached the turn at +2 for the day and had fallen outside the top 25.
Needing to produce a special back nine, he did exactly that, starting with back-to-back birdies on 10 and 11 to get back to level-par, then he added another brace on 14 and 15 to move back into the top 10 and there was still time for one more as he finished in style with a birdie on the par-4 closing hole to climb to T8 at -13 and enter the final round just three back.
Gary Hurley’s one-under 71 leaves the Waterford man tied for 26th at -7, six behind the leaders, and a strong final round could lift him into the top 45 which is the cutoff point for the HotelPlanner Tour’s Rolex Grand Final with just four regular season events remaining.
Frederik Kjettrup is the man they all have to catch, however, and he will take a one-stroke lead into the final day after he reached 16-under for the week.
The Dane, who started the day one-stroke behind joint leaders Aron Zemmer, Kristian Hjort Bressum and Collin Adams, carded a five under 67 to reach the summit with 18 holes to play.
The 26-year-old mixed seven birdies with two bogeys on moving day and was pleased with his effort.
“I’m just trying to play into the right spot,” he said. “Pick my right targets and hit the right shots.
“Luckily, the putter has been working well this week, so it makes it a little bit easier to connect myself, just get on the right side of the flag, give myself a couple of 15-20 footers.
“Sometimes you can get dragged into being a bit too aggressive and trying to force some of it.”
Kjettrup went bogey free on the opening day, before dropping just one shot on day two in his seven under 65, which put him into a good position heading into the weekend.
Italian Zemmer, Spaniard Joseba Torres and Scotland’s Calum Fyfe share third place on 15 under par, one-stroke ahead of German Jannick De Bruyn, American Alex Goff and Englishman Bailey Gill.
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