Sunday 6 September 2015 23:03, UK
Lee Slattery will take a two-shot lead into the final round of the M2M Russian Open after firing an excellent 67 on a weather-hit third day at the Skolkovo Golf Club.
Torrential early-morning rain forced play to be delayed for over an hour and a half, but Slattery made light of the damp, soft conditions to roll in six birdies, although his lead could have been more commanding had he not double-bogeyed the short 11th when he thinned a bunker escape over the back of the green.
Slattery, who has not added to his lone European Tour victory at the Madrid Masters in 2011, bounced back with birdies at the 12th and 14th, and he made a four at the long last hole for the third day running to reach 13 under par.
"I hit a really nice drive at 18, one of the best of the day, and then a three iron rescue which has been carrying all week," he told Europeantour.com. "It's been a great club for me this week, especially on a lot of the par threes that play long. It was a nice way to finish the round off.
"I got a bit unlucky in the bunker at 11, it was sat down in a little bit of a hole and there was no sand there. The bunkers have a lot of sand this week, I've seen a lot of plugged balls but for some reason were my ball was there was no sand at all, so it was just unfortunate really. I didn't feel I hit a bad bunker shot but the club bounced and I thinned it over the back.
"It's very similar to my last win actually, I had a two shot lead there on the final day. I remember losing the lead quite early but it pushed me on to play well again so it's similar, similar feelings, and I'm just going to go out and enjoy it tomorrow. It's the old cliché, take it one shot at a time, that's what I'll be doing tomorrow and I'm looking forward to it."
The 37-year-old leads from Scotland's Craig Lee and Argentine Estanislao Goya, while in-form defending champion David Horsey is a further shot off the pace.
Lee got off and running with birdies at the third and fourth, and he reeled off three in four holes after the turn before parring in to complete a faultless 66.
Goya also kept a bogey off his card in his 67, while Horsey recovered from a dropped shot at the second to card six birdies, including four on the back nine as he matched the 66 of Lee.
Delay suited Horsey
"Saturday is moving day so it is always nice to make a move up the leaderboard," said Horsey, who claimed his fourth European Tour title at the Made in Denmark two weeks ago. "I played nicely out there and I'm very pleased with my position going into the final day.
"The delay was actually a bit of a blessing because it was hammering it down beforehand so that extra hour and a half helped me out a little bit and we hardly had any rain this afternoon. So we were very lucky with the weather and it's certainly played into the leaders' hands.
"I'm playing nicely at the moment so I just have to stick to my game plan again tomorrow and see where I am coming down the stretch."
But overnight leader Bradley Dredge slipped four strokes off the lead after failing to build on birdies at the first and third holes which got him to 12 under for the tournament.
The Welsh veteran dropped shots at the ninth and 12th before getting one back at 13, only to bogey the 14th and 17th as he stuttered to a one-over 72.
Live coverage of the final round starts Sunday at 9am on Sky Sports 4 - your home of golf.
