Round Three Report

Ewen Ferguson will take a three-stroke lead into the final round of the ISPS HANDA World Invitational presented by AVIV Clinics as he seeks a second DP World Tour title.

The Scotsman, who secured his maiden success at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters in March, started the day one stroke ahead of Spain’s Borja Virto at Galgorm Castle Golf Club but quickly moved clear after birdies on the second and fourth holes.

His third birdie of the day came on the tenth and he recovered from back-to-back bogeys on the 14th and 15th with his fourth gain of the day on the 18th as he moved to 11 under par after signing for a two under 68.

The 26-year-old sits three strokes ahead of American John Catlin, who won the Irish Open at this venue in 2020. Catlin started his day with a bogey on the first but recovered to sign for a four under par 66 and an eight under par total.

Last year’s Challenge Tour Number One Marcus Helligkilde, of Denmark, carded the lowest round of the day, a six under 64, which included two eagles and four birdies, to move into a share of third place on seven under. Joining him in third place are England’s Jack Senior, Scotsman Connor Syme and Virto.

A further cut has been made after the third round of the the innovative event, which sees a DP World Tour and a co-sanctioned LPGA Tour and Ladies European Tour tournament taking place on the same golf course. The top 35 players and ties from each tournament after 54-holes will contest the final day, with 38 men and 39 women set to tee it up in alternating groups.

In the women’s competition, Amanda Doherty will go in search of her first LPGA Tour title as she takes a one-stroke lead into the final day. The American, who has led since the first round, is one shot clear from 2018 Women’s Open champion Georgia Hall and Peiyun Chien from Chinese Taipei.

Player Quotes

Ewen Ferguson: “(For) 36 holes I played really, really good. Today was such a grind. I knew that I didn’t feel great on the range and it was going to be a grind, so battled away and chipped and putted my way to shooting a really good 68 around a tough golf course and extended my lead. Can’t ask for much more, to be honest.

“It’s just way too early to start feeling pressure. I’ll feel pressure tomorrow on the back nine, but like I just was just — you’re just jockeying for position at this moment it seems like, so just kind of going with it. Try to enjoy it, even though it is — it was tough because I wasn’t at all on my game, but grinded it out really well.

“I think everyone is making mistakes. It’s not just me. It’s a tough course. It was annoying, but like well, like everyone is going to do it. It’s not just me. I just tried to look at it that way. My caddie was like, listen, it’s not easy here. There is a swirly wind as well, so other people are going to make mistakes. I just tried to, yeah, you’re right. So kind of done well the last couple holes, and happy to finish with the birdie.”

John Catlin: “As soon as I came on property on, would’ve been Wednesday, I could feel it again. I feel very comfortable around here. This golf course really fits my game.

“You have to put it in play off the tee. That’s something I’ve always done very well. I’m usually pretty good around the greens. I feel like if you can do that around here you’re always going to have a good chance to shoot a good round. See what happens tomorrow, but do I love playing around here.

“(Today) was kind of up and down. Some good, some not so good. Hung in there really well. Made a few putts today, which was nice. Gave myself a chance going into tomorrow.”

Connor Syme: “My game feels good. I feel like I found something at the Scottish Open, to be honest. My game felt like it was trending quite nicely at that point. Maybe my results don’t show it quite as much, but my game felt good, and it was nice to kind of have that rewarded last week. Obviously rolling into this week has been promising so far as well. Yeah, just need to get the foot down tomorrow right the start and try and go as low as I can tomorrow.

“I think it will be a good day tomorrow regardless. I think we’ll all be obviously striking to win. Those guys have won before; I haven’t. I’m looking forward to just the challenge. We’ll see. So much can change. This golf course is very, very challenging towards the end. You don’t need to be off by much. Yeah, just got to keep things going the whole way round and everything can change right to the last tomorrow. Looking forward to it.”

Scores after Round Three:

 199 E FERGUSON (SCO) 61 70 68,

 202 J CATLIN (USA) 67 69 66,

 203 C SYME (SCO) 66 68 69, B VIRTO (ESP) 65 67 71, J SENIOR (ENG) 69 69 65, M HELLIGKILDE (DEN) 67 72 64,

 204 R MANSELL (ENG) 71 65 68,

 205 G MIGLIOZZI (ITA) 70 68 67, J RUTHERFORD (ENG) 70 68 67, M BALDWIN (ENG) 68 69 68, F CELLI (AM) (ITA) 66 67 72,

 206 R PETERSSON (SWE) 66 70 70, J FAHRBRING (SWE) 68 70 68, O FARR (WAL) 70 68 68,

 207 D DIXON (ENG) 70 67 70, T MCKIBBIN (NIR) 69 72 66, C HOWIE (SCO) 69 68 70,

 208 R PARATORE (ITA) 67 68 73, D CAREY (IRL) 67 73 68, F PALSON (SWE) 65 68 75,

 209 H MAGNUS (ISL) 71 69 69, J SMITH (ENG) 68 67 74, D BORDA (ESP) 70 67 72, J MCLEOD (AUS) 72 68 69, J DANTORP (SWE) 68 71 70, J WRISDALE (ENG) 71 69 69, W NIENABER (RSA) 66 72 71, Z MURRAY (AUS) 70 70 69, S GARCIA RODRIGUEZ (ESP) 66 73 70, T AIKEN (RSA) 66 74 69, C FYFE (SCO) 66 71 72, S BROWN (ENG) 72 69 68,

 210 S STALLINGS JR (USA) 69 68 73, R EVANS (ENG) 66 71 73, J WIKSTROM (SWE) 71 68 71, R LUMSDEN (SCO) 68 70 72, D WHITNELL (ENG) 66 69 75, A HIDALGO (ESP) 67 71 72,

 211 C MIVIS (BEL) 70 69 72, D GERMISHUYS (RSA) 72 68 71, J MURPHY (IRL) 67 69 75, A KEOGH (ENG) 70 67 74, A SADDIER (FRA) 66 71 74, J VEERMAN (USA) 72 69 70, M KINHULT (SWE) 74 64 73, D LAW (SCO) 70 70 71, A CHESTERS (ENG) 72 68 71, B EASTON (RSA) 67 73 71, B STOW (ENG) 71 70 70,

 212 D HORSEY (ENG) 70 69 73, C PIGEM (ESP) 68 71 73, P ERIKSSON (SWE) 69 72 71, G HURLEY (IRL) 70 71 71, L RUUSKA (FIN) 69 68 75, V RIU (FRA) 73 68 71,

 213 R BLAND (ENG) 65 71 77, J THOMSON (ENG) 68 72 73,

 214 P DUNNE (IRL) 68 72 74, D DRYSDALE (SCO) 71 70 73,

 216 T MURRAY (ENG) 68 70 78, D PAPADATOS (AUS) 68 73 75,

 217 C FELDBORG NIELSEN (SWE) 71 70 76,

 219 S TARRIO (ESP) 66 74 79,

 221 M DECOTTIGNIES-LAFON (FRA) 70 71 80,

 **

 142 O FARRELL (ENG) 73 69, V MEYER (GER) 71 71, M FORD (ENG) 73 69, R DINWIDDIE (ENG) 69 73, F LAPORTA (ITA) 73 69, N VON DELLINGSHAUSEN (GER) 72 70, S MANLEY (WAL) 69 73, T GANDY (IMN) 71 71, E WALKER (SCO) 71 71, M ANTCLIFF (AUS) 71 71, C HANNA (USA) 72 70, T CLEMENTS (ENG) 68 74, A WILSON (ENG) 68 74, H PORTEOUS (RSA) 68 74, L SLATTERY (ENG) 72 70,

 143 M PENGE (ENG) 73 70, D GAVINS (ENG) 73 70, N LEMKE (SWE) 73 70, E SMYLIE (AUS) 72 71, B EVANS (ENG) 76 67, J SURI (USA) 73 70, B NEIL (SCO) 73 70,

 144 J HEARN (AM) (IRL) 75 69, B PETURSSON (ISL) 71 73, J STALTER (FRA) 70 74, L DE JAGER (RSA) 76 68, C SHARVIN (NIR) 73 71, S THORNTON (IRL) 73 71,

 145 D HIGGINS (IRL) 73 72, J ZUNIC (AUS) 75 70, G BOURDY (FRA) 71 74, T RICE (IRL) 72 73, J HANSEN (DEN) 72 73, A CA?IZARES (ESP) 75 70, R KARLBERG (SWE) 73 72, B BROWN (AM) (ENG) 69 76, H ZHANG (CHN) 73 72,

 146 M WAITE (ENG) 73 73, N KEARNEY (IRL) 73 73, S DEL VAL (ESP) 71 75, D COUPLAND (ENG) 71 75, M ORRIN (ENG) 72 74, C BLOMSTRAND (SWE) 73 73,

 147 C PURCELL (IRL) 70 77, F KENNEDY (AM) (ENG) 73 74, R CONRADIE (RSA) 74 73, J KENNEGARD (SWE) 71 76, R MCEVOY (ENG) 73 74, A PLANT (ENG) 73 74,

 148 C GRIFFITHS (ENG) 73 75, D MCELROY (NIR) 77 71, E LIPPARELLI (ITA) 72 76, G KRISTJANSSON (ISL) 74 74, J OTAEGUI (ESP) 76 72, Z BAI (CHN) 71 77, J HILL (AM) (NIR) 75 73,

 149 P EDBERG (SWE) 75 74, J MORRISON (ENG) 75 74,

 150 S FERNANDEZ (ESP) 73 77,

 151 G KING (ENG) 75 76, H LEON (CHI) 77 74,

 152 J GARCIA (ESP) 76 76,

 153 T KOIVISTO (USA) 73 80,

 157 H ELLIS (ENG) 75 82,

 159 R BRAZILL (AM) (IRL) 78 81,

 **

 OUT M WARREN (SCO) 76 DQ, J RITCHIE (RSA) 72 RT, C WILLIAMS (IRL) 80 WD