Sunday 4 October 2015 18:58, UK
Thorbjorn Olesen will take a commanding three-shot lead into the final round of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and took the chance to impress Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke at St Andrews.
Olesen came into the week battling to retain his card after making only five cuts during an injury-hit season, but the young Dane looks primed to make huge strides up the Race to Dubai rankings after a superb 65 at St Andrews.
The 25-year-old, playing alongside European skipper Clarke at the Old Course, hit back from an opening bogey with four birdies in six holes from the third, and he picked up four shots over the last five to hit the front on 17 under par.
"It's great," Olesen said. "I was close here once before, finishing second in this tournament [in 2012]. I know this golf course pretty well and I know how it is to be up there is in this tournament so hopefully on Sunday I can go out there and find a few birdies and see if I can get over the line."
Olesen was forced to undergo surgery on a tendon problem in his left hand in February and lost a play-off to George Coetzee in Mauritius in his first tournament back, but has made the cut in just three of his 13 strokeplay events since.
He is currently a lowly 124th on the Race to Dubai, with just the top 110 retaining their cards at the end of the season, but a third European Tour title would solve all his problems.
"After I holed the first long putt I felt really comfortable on the greens and the putter got really hot in the end," added Olesen, who is also tied for 10th with surfing superstar Kelly Slater in the pro-am competiton.
Fritsch on fire
Florian Fritsch emerged as Olesen's closest challenger after he fired a flawless 64 at Kingsbarns, where he played the last seven holes in six under.
The German also leads the pro-am event on 30 under playing with former Germany and Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack, the pair combining for a better-ball 58 on day three.
Fritsch, just below Olesen on the Race to Dubai, said: "Definitely at the beginning I was probably a bit more worried about maybe making the cut because this is a very big tournament, especially for me with the money that can be won and the position that I'm in.
"The golf course is very open. You can't really lose a ball and that is definitely something that I enjoy and I guess most golfers like. It loosens you up despite the situation."
Benjamin Hebert is a further shot adrift after an impressive 67 at Carnoustie, while Joakim Lagergren carded a brilliant 62, the lowest round of the day, at Kingsbarns to move to 12 under alongside Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Bradley Dredge and Chris Stroud.
Els switches putters
Four-time major winner Ernie Els is part of a six-strong group on 11 under after the veteran fired a 66 at St Andrews, and he was able to laugh about suffering an attack of the dreaded 'yips' over a short putt in his opening 72 at Carnoustie on Thursday.
Footage of Els missing from a matter of inches went viral on the internet and the 45-year-old admitted: "I don't even want to see it. I knew what it felt like and it was a thing of disaster, so I went to my other putter, a shorter putter where all the weight is in the head and I feel I can get the putter head through to the ball easier.
"If anybody has ever seen the yips, that was the perfect yip stroke. In the game of golf, you're going to do some silly things when you play it long enough and I had my moment there. Hopefully I won't have too many of those again."
Meanwhile, David Horsey had a 59 in his sights after an eagle on the third - his 12th - at Kingsbarns got him to nine under for the round, but the Englishman blotted his card at the next and had to settle for a 64 - 10 under for the week.
But it was a poor day for joint-overnight leader Jimmy Mullen, making his professional debut after starring in last month's Walker Cup, who could only manage a 74 at Carnoustie to drop eight shots off the lead, one behind Great Britain and Ireland team-mate Paul Dunne, who shot 72 at the same venue.
