Jyoti Randhawa and Chris Gane lead on -8 through nine holes as players were forced off the course due to fading light at Gloria Golf Club, Turkey.
The leaderboard at Legends Tour Q School really tightened up during a tricky third round on the New Course, and there are now 11 players within five shots of the lead and 15 within six shots of the top-five finish required to book a place on the 2024 MCB Road to Mauritius. But none of the top-20 finished their rounds, and the final group had only just made the turn as the hooter sounded.
Tee times were initially delayed by 30 minutes to give the greenkeeping staff extra time to prepare the course after heavy overnight and morning rain, and their fantastic efforts presented the course in excellent condition, but players had to come off the course at 1.19pm due to lightning in the area. Play resumed at 4.15pm after a delay of just shy of three hours, and continued until it became too dark at 5.50pm.
Randhawa was bogey-free and -2 for his nine holes, picking up birdies at the 2nd and 6th, while it was slightly tougher going for Gane, who traded birdies at the 2nd and 8th with dropped shots at 4 and 9 to finish on the same score that he started on as the overnight leader.
Simon Griffiths (through 12 holes), Carlos Balmaseda (through 9) and Lionel Alexandre (through 9) are tied in 3rd on -7. Griffiths and Balmaseda have each circled four red numbers and had one bogey, and Alexandre bounced back from a dropped shot at the 4th with a birdie at 7 and a magnificent eagle on 9.
Andrew Marshall is one place and one shot outside the all-important top-five on -6, David Shacklady is 7th on -5, and Doug McGuigan and Van Phillips are tied-8th a shot further back. The top 10 is completed by Paul Blaikie and Alessandro Tadini on -3.
The third round will resume tomorrow (Monday) at 9am. Once complete, a cut will be made, with all players within eight shots of the final qualifying place (5th) teeing it up for the last 18 holes. The top five after four rounds will gain their places on the 2024 MCB Road to Mauritius, with a sudden death play-off to determine the final qualifier or qualifiers if there is a tie for the fifth and final spot.
Visit www.legendstour.com to see the full leaderboard, updated tee times and to find out more about Legends Tour Q School at Gloria Golf Club, Belek, Turkey
