Sunday 28 May 2017 17:56, UK
Lee Westwood produced a superb finish to lift himself back into contention as Andrew Dodt earned a one-shot lead after day three of the BMW PGA Championship.
Blustery conditions at Wentworth made for tough scoring as not a single player of the 66 remaining managed to keep a bogey off their cards, making Dodt's four-under 68 all the more impressive, while Westwood birdied the final three holes to salvage a 72 which left him just three off the lead going into the final round.
Dodt atoned for a bogey at the fourth, one of the easier holes on the West Course, and followed a birdie at nine with three in four holes from the 11th before another gain at the 17th took him to eight under par.
The Australian holds a slim advantage over Branden Grace, who stuttered to the turn in 37 before starting the back nine with four birdies in five holes, although his fourth bogey of the day at 16 and two closing pars added up to a 70.
Westwood looked to be out of the running when he dropped two shots over the first five holes and erred again at the ninth, a hole that yielded only two birdies all day, but the Englishman steadied himself with a solid run of six pars before finishing three-four-four to get back to where he started the round on five under.
The English veteran, who has six top-15 finishes at Wentworth, shares third place with his former Ryder Cup team-mate Francesco Molinari, who carded a disappointing 74 with three bogeys and just one birdie at the penultimate hole.
Henrik Stenson also struggled on the outward nine and turned in 39, but the Open champion fought back with birdies at the 12th and 17th which hauled him back to within four of the lead and certainly within striking distance with 18 holes remaining.
The Swede is on four under alongside Shane Lowry, runner-up to Rory McIlroy in 2014, after the Irishman returned a resolute 70 highlighted by one of three eagles at the 12th, while Hideto Tanihara made significant strides up the leaderboard with six birdies and just one blemish in a 67 - the low round of the day.
Fan favourite Andrew "Beef" Johnston gave his vast army of followers plenty to cheer despite running up a double-bogey six at the third, bouncing back with a chip-in for eagle at the fourth and a birdie at the eighth.
Johnston matched Lowry's eagle at the 12th to jump to six under, but he faltered down the stretch and had to settle for a 72 and a share of eighth on three under alongside compatriots Tyrrell Hatton, Graeme Storm and local favourite Ross Fisher.
The English quartet were joined in a tie for eighth by overnight leader Scott Jamieson, who endured a horrendous run of holes as he double-bogeyed the sixth and the eighth and then bogeyed nine and 10 to plummet to one under, although the Scot did manage to claw two shots back coming in.
But Jamieson's playing partner in the final group, Thomas Pieters, fared even worse following an early double-bogey at the third as he twice failed to escape the rough on the left and took five shots just to reach the putting surface.
The young Belgian was still only three off the lead with four to play, but he bogeyed 15 and 17 and then found water at the last, leading to a closing seven and a round of 78 which saw him drift back to one under par.
