Waterford’s Gary Hurley will be more than pleased with the outcome of his Saturday in Estonia as the 33-year-old climbed inside the cutline in the early morning due to Friday weather delays before making a run up the leaderboard with a third round 68 around Estonian Golf & Country Club in Tallinn.
Lightning bellowed late in the Friday evening, forcing Hurley and others to return to complete their second round before the beginning of the third round on Saturday morning. Hurley had five holes left to play from his second round as he sat on the two-under-par cutline.
Hurley bogeyed the first of his second round return, the 14th, before sinking birdies at the 15th and 17th to get inside the cutline and into the weekend. James Sugrue found himself in a similar situation but unfortunately for the Cork man, he missed the cut as it moved to three-under by the end of the delayed second round.
Taking the confidence of the early morning heroics, Hurley teed off his third round and he produced his best work of the week so far, posting a four-under-par 68 to climb to T27 at seven-under. Hurley was electric closing out his round, making three birdies in the final four holes to really make a statement.
Hurley has missed more cuts than he has made this season and the Déise man will be hoping for a strong Sunday finish to see him climb from his 51st spot in the Road to Mallorca standings. Hurley will be looking to fight his way into the top-45 to qualify for the Rolex Grand Final. With 10 regular season events left of the season, Hurley will fancy his chances.
Mark Power matched his second round score as he posted another three-under-par round to sit alongside Hurley at seven-under. Power also benefitted from a strong finish, making four birdies in his final six holes.
Galway’s Ronan Mullarney sits just one back from Hurley and Power at six-under, as the 30-year-old posted an even-par third round that saw two bogeys and two birdies. Liam Nolan posted a one-over-par round to drop 22 places to T43 at five-under. Both Mullarney and Nolan managed to squeeze into the top-20 before teeing off the third round.
There was plenty of movement at the top of the table as 32-year-old Englishman Andrew Wilson posted a bogey free four-under-par round to lead by one stroke at 15-under.
Wilson is closely followed by Scotland’s Rory Franssen who’s third round 66 sees him at 14-under. Franssen had an oppurtunity to tie for the lead heading into the final round but the 27-year-old made bogey at the last to remain one behind.
Perhaps the story of the day lied with Germany’s Marc Hammer who held both the 18 and 36-hole lead. Hammer seemed to be in the groove in Estonia before a poor Saturday performance drew out a three-over-par 75. Hammer dropped 15 places to 16th, as he now sits six back from the lead at nine-under.
German duo Michael Hirmir and Jannik De Bruyn join Spain’s Santiago Tarrio and Denmark’s Victor Sidal Svendsen in T3 with all four players at 12-under.
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