Brendan McCarroll continued his fine form this season to head the Irish challenge ahead of the final round of the HotelPlanner.com PGA EuroPro Tour’s Eagle Orchid Scottish Masters at Montrose Golf Links.
The West Cliffs professional fired seven birdies and an eagle in a roller coaster round that eventually saw him sign for a two-under-par 69. At five-under for the tournament, McCarroll finds himself in a share of 15th spot with a round to go and just five shots off the lead.
Whitehead’s John Ross Galbraith is another man in a rich vein of form but he would have been disappointed with a level par round this afternoon after his four-under start yesterday.
Galbraith and McCarroll shared 8th spot last week at the PDC Golf Championship and no doubt they’ll be hoping for similar finishes tomorrow to keep the momentum going.
Woodcote Park’s Peter Williamson and Limerick’s Tim Rice are just in behind at three-under-par after rounds of 71 and 69 today. The pair share in a big tie for 30th, one shot ahead of Royal Dublin’s Niall Kearney who returned a level par round of his own today to sit in a tie for 41st at two-under.
While Mount Juliet’s Luke Donnelly returned a three-over-par 73 to sneak inside the cut mark at minus one.
Chris Gane shot consecutive rounds of 66 to lead by two heading into the final round.
Gane (Left Handed Golf at Silvermere) took control in Montrose after many of the front runner’s scores went in the opposite direction. A second consecutive round of 66 (-5) with just a single bogey was enough to give the 44-year old a two-shot cushion with 18 holes left to play.
He said: “It’s been tricky yardage-wise this week, hitting clubs off tees to stay out of bunkers that you would usually expect to get to. There’s an element of luck there with links golf that I’ve been fortunate with at times.”
It didn’t go as planned for Gane, who picked up a bogey on the first hole. He said: “You know round here that there are lots of scoring chances, I find that links golf is more about staying out of the fairway bunkers. Once I landed in one on the first I was resigned to a bogey, but I knew I’d been playing well and would get chances to go low on the front nine.”
The adverse conditions, mainly the strong winds, affected many but Gane stood firm on the Scottish coast despite being three shots off the lead before teeing off.
Four golfers sit just two shots behind Gane in the form of James Ruth (China Fleet Golf & Country Club), Jack Yule (King’s Lynn Golf Club), Joe Brooks (Hanbury Manor Golf Club), and Gary King (First Choice Villas/ TWGC).
First round leader Craig Farrelly had a start to forget, dropping five shots in the first four holes. Despite two birdies on the front nine, a further two bogeys, on the 13thand 17thholes, leaves the 43-year-old with lots of work to do tomorrow.
Jimmy Mullen (Royal North Devon Golf Club) found his form in the second round, bouncing back from a three-over par opening round, and carded the joint lowest round of the tournament (63) – bogey free no less.
Sean Lawrie (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre) dominated the front nine, going out in just 29 shots, and registered himself as another genuine contender for the £59,000 bonus for a 59 round when he was eight-under par through 12 holes. However, a bogey on the 14thnulled any hope of a big payday for the Scotsman who finished the round tied for 15thspot and five shots off the lead.
A cut to the leading 50 players and ties has now been made, with those one-under par or better proceeding to the final round.
live scoring can be found at HERE.
Highlights of the Eagle Orchid Scottish Masters will air on Sky Sports on 26th June.
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