Englishman Luke Donald extended his lead at the Scandinavian Masters presented by Carlsberg from one to three strokes, after another brilliant display at the Barsebäck Golf & Country Club, saw him post a third round of three under par 69 for a 13 under aggregate of 203 to establish a three shot lead from Sweden’s Peter Hanson.
Despite a bogey-bogey finish, Donald’s third round was a great display of golf, the 25 year old posting his third consecutive score below 70 for the week and is now the only player in the field to have broken 70 in all three rounds.
The Englishman’s first dropped shot of the day came at the 17th, and when it arrived it was only his second bogey in 47 holes, his only other dropped shot of the tournament before that was on the sixth hole during round one.
He was disappointed to follow the bogey on 17 by lipping out for par on the 18th green, but the highlights of Donald’s round outweighed the annoying finish.
After sneaking his drive past the tree on the short corner of the 421 yard dogleg right 13th hole, Donald played a miracle shot with the ball above his feet in the semi rough. His ball pitched some 15 feet short of the flag and sought out the middle of the cup for a sensational eagle two.
Before that he had birdied the first, the seventh – where he played another exceptional approach to three feet – and the ninth, which has given him the confidence to believe he can finish the job on Sunday and secure what would be a maiden European Tour victory – as well as increase his chances of representing Europe in the 35th Ryder Cup Matches at Oakland Hills Country Club in September.
“I played well today, but have been playing that way for the first two days as well here,” said Donald. “I am striking the ball as well as I have been all year. Overall I have had a good day today with a disappointing finish.
“I don’t know exactly what happened at the end of the round – I think my concentration dipped and I got a bit out of synch at the end, but if I can go out and concentrate on playing the way I have been playing then I will be a hard man to catch.
“I think that I have shown some good form this year and if I can win here tomorrow then I will have a good shout for the Ryder Cup.
“My eagle on 13 was nice – you need a bit of luck for them to actually go in but it was a well executed shot that came off the clubface beautifully.”
The eagle put him six shots clear of Hanson at that stage, with the Swede closing the gap to five with a birdie at the 18th for a four under par 68, before Donald bogeyed the 17th and 18th to allow the gap to go back to three shots.
Four behind the leader is Sweden’s Henrik Stenson – who made three birdies in his last seven holes for a two under 70 – with England’s David Lynn a shot further back in fourth place.
Scotland’s Steven O’Hara – currently in 64th position with €227,695 on the Volvo Order of Merit in his Rookie season on The European Tour – shot a five under par 67 to join the Swedish pair of Jesper Parnevik and Wilhelm Schauman as well as England’s Steve Webster on six under par 210.
