Paul Dunne finds himself among 11 players within two shots of the lead heading into the final round at the 2018 Volvo China Open.
The Greystones man is in a tie for 6th having returned a superb bogey-free round of five-under-par 67 on moving day for a ten-under total.
Dunne fired five birdies in an accomplished display to get himself right into contention in Beijing as he looks to bounce back from his missed cut last week in Morocco having started the tournament as favourite.
“My round was pretty solid although I didn’t feel fully in control of my game so to shoot a 67 and have no bogeys is good and I’ve given myself a chance,” reflected Dunne. “I think I need to shoot a really good round again tomorrow but hopefully I’ll get off to a good start and give myself a chance.”
He can take inspiration from compatriot Damien McGrane who won this very event 10 year ago by a whopping nine strokes in torrential rain to claim his maiden European Tour title. Not too dissimilar in stature, let’s hope for a similar result tomorrow as Dunne looks to add to his British Masters crown of last year.
He will have to catch Adrian Otaegui and Matt Wallace who will share the lead heading into the final round at Topwin Golf & Country Club.
Otaegui and Wallace have both entered the European Tour winners’ circle in the past 12 months – the Englishman having claimed two victories including his most recent one at last month’s Hero Indian Open, while the Spaniard broke his duck at last year’s Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play.
Otaegui moved to a 12 under par total courtesy of a bogey-free round which was set alight by a run of five successive birdies from the eighth, while Wallace had been out on front on his own stepping onto the 16th tee, but after holing a monster putt to save par there, he dropped a shot at the 17th to settle for a 69 and a share of the lead.
“It was up and down today as you could see with my emotions out there”, said Wallace. “I’m really gutted to finish with a bogey and a par on the last two holes. After the big putt at 16 for par I was a bit too hyped up really and I needed a second on the tee there just to slow myself down and get the ball in play.
“I had a chance at par at 17 and missed it and then it was just a bad tee shot down the last. Again it was frustrating but I’m playing really good golf so there’s not much else I can do. I hit it quite close on a few of them, including on nine but it was a tough putt and I missed it on the low side.
“Then I was grinding through. I had a good look on 11 at the right edge of the green and they were a frustrating few holes but I’m still up there.
“I’m playing really nicely, I’m hitting it long and straight and if I do that tomorrow I’ll have a few chances at birdie. We’re tied for the lead so I’m pretty happy.”
Swede Alexander Björk, Julien Guerrier of France and Spain’s Jorge Campillo were just a shot off the pace on 11 under par as they all chase a maiden victory, while defending champion Alexander Levy – who was seven shots off the lead heading into the final round last year – sits ominously just three strokes back.
Scores:
204 M Wallace (Eng) 65 70 69, A Otaegui (Esp) 68 69 67,
205 A Björk (Swe) 66 72 67, J Guerrier (Fra) 68 69 68, J Campillo (Esp) 69 68 68,
206 J Choi (Kor) 69 72 65, P Dunne (Irl) 71 68 67, J Wang (Kor) 72 66 68, N Elvira (Esp) 69 67 70, S Kim (USA) 70 66 70, A Pavan (Ita) 68 72 66,
207 N Bertasio (Ita) 65 73 69, A Wu (Chn) 70 71 66, J Scrivener (Aus) 67 69 71, M Manassero (Ita) 72 68 67, C Sordet (Fra) 71 70 66, A Levy (Fra) 69 73 65, S Lee (Kor) 68 69 70,
208 S Vincent (Zim) 66 74 68, M Shin (USA) 71 71 66, J Smith (Eng) 69 69 70, M Ilonen (Fin) 71 70 67, A Chesters (Eng) 72 68 68, J Norris (Aus) 74 64 70,
209 D Jin (Chn) 64 76 69, L Bjerregaard (Den) 70 73 66, A Atwal (Ind) 69 72 68, H Wu (Chn) 73 67 69, J Luiten (Ned) 70 69 70, S Sharma (Ind) 69 72 68, C Hanson (Eng) 71 71 67, Y Ikeda (Jpn) 69 72 68,
210 R Fox (Nzl) 70 72 68, R Gouveia (Por) 71 68 71, A Dodt (Aus) 69 72 69, P Larrazábal (Esp) 70 69 71, D Lipsky (USA) 68 75 67,
211 J Lagergren (Swe) 73 70 68, M Fraser (Aus) 72 71 68, L Jensen (Den) 73 68 70, J Suri (USA) 71 69 71, A Rai (Eng) 73 70 68, T Olesen (Den) 74 67 70, P Khongwatmai (Tha) 70 72 69, E Molinari (Ita) 72 71 68, K Horne (RSA) 69 74 68, G Green (Mas) 73 67 71, S Jamieson (Sco) 67 71 73,
212 P Meesawat (Tha) 73 68 71, M Siem (Ger) 75 68 69, S Horsfield (Eng) 69 70 73, M Kawamura (Jpn) 69 70 73, K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 73 70 69, G Bhullar (Ind) 68 72 72, H Li (Chn) 70 70 72,
213 R Lee (Can) 71 68 74, J Janewattananond (Tha) 74 68 71, P Pittayarat (Tha) 68 74 71,
214 M Kinhult (Swe) 68 73 73, A Da Silva (Bra) 70 73 71, T Pulkkanen (Fin) 70 71 73, A Quiros (Esp) 69 71 74, J Morrison (Eng) 70 70 74,
215 M Tabuena (Phi) 71 72 72, Y Liu (Chn) 70 73 72, K Joshi (Ind) 71 71 73,
216 X Luo (Chn) 72 68 76,
217 S Kapur (Ind) 73 68 76, R Wattel (Fra) 72 69 76,
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