Patrik Sjöland is in pole position for a second career Legends Tour victory on -9, but the trio of Phillip Archer, Van Phillips and Jarmo Sandelin are lurking just one shot adrift going into the final round.
The leader started the day one stroke adrift of Gary Orr, but he moved into top spot with five birdies in his first 11 holes, including three in a row from the 9th. He suffered a wobble with back-to-back bogeys at 14 and 15, but he responded brilliantly with red numbers at 16 and 18 to move to the summit of a leaderboard dominated by Swedish and English flags.
“I’m very pleased with the way I played today,” said last year’s Farmfoods European Senior Masters champion. “I played really solidly the first 13 holes, and then I had a poor drive on 14. I made bogey there and then a silly three-putt on 15, but came back with two birdies on 16 and 18, so I’m very pleased.”
He’s demonstrated excellent bouncebackability after recovering from a double bogey midway through his back nine yesterday and doing the same after his dropped shots today: “It is very, very nice to have that (bouncebackability). But you know even if you’re playing well, everybody’s making mistakes, and so will you. It’s just a matter of not spending too much time thinking about it – just get on with the next shot. I did that today and I was really focused. I hit a good approach shot on 16 to about a foot after those two bogeys on 14 and 15, so that helps when you get putts like that as well.”
He knows the birdie on 18 to give him the outright lead could be pivotal, but there’s still a long way to go: “You know there is low scoring out there, so it’s nice to have a one-shot lead. But that can go away very quickly tomorrow by guys going out early and shooting low numbers. It was nice to hole a decent downhill putt on the 18th as well.”
Sandelin, who won the Swiss Seniors Open earlier this season, was the first to get into the clubhouse on -8 thanks to a 66 that featured one bogey, five birdies and an eagle on the 17th. Van Phillips had a bogey-free 66 to give himself a great chance to improve on his standing at 53rd in the MCB Road to Mauritius.
Archer has been a runner-up in this event the last two years, so he’ll be desperate to go one better, especially after finishing tied-3rd in last week’s European Legends Cup. The highlight of his 67 was an eagle two at the driveable par-4 16th.
Round one leader Gary Orr slipped back to tied-5th after a 71. He’s joined on -6 by Mikael Lundberg and Philip Golding, who signed for rounds of 68 and 66 respectively.
Defending champion Scott Hend bounced back from an opening 76 with a scintillating 63 to haul himself back into contention. The Aussie notched up seven birdies and an eagle to climb to -5, and a tie for 8th alongside Simon Griffiths, Gary Murphy and Miguel Angel Martin. MCB Road to Mauritius number one Adilson da Silva is tied-12th on -4.
Visit www.legendstour.com to see the full leaderboard and final round tee times, and to find out more about the WINSTONgolf Senior Open at WINSTONgolf, Vorbeck, Germany.
