Czech Masters: Padraig Harrington shares lead after bogey-free 65
Monday 27 August 2018 01:35, UK
Padraig Harrington fired a bogey-free 65 to take a share of the lead into the final round of the D+D Real Czech Masters.
The Ryder Cup vice-captain rolled back the years by firing seven birdies at the Albatross Golf Resort to get to 17 under and join Italy's Andrea Pavan at the top of the leaderboard.
Malaysia's Gavin Green leads the chasing pack and sits three strokes back from the leading pair, with Scott Jamieson a further stroke adrift after a second successive 68.
"I feel like it was a day too early," Harrington said. "It took a lot out of me, a lot of focus and I holed the putts that you'd like to be holing on a Sunday."
Pavan made a fast start and birdied three of his first five holes to move into a share of the lead alongside midway pacesetter Green, who picked up a shot on his opening hole and drained a 20-footer at the fourth.
Harrington birdied his opening hole and posted back-to-back gains from the sixth, as Green bounced back from a blemish at the fifth to get up and down to pick up a shot at the next and reclaim a share of the lead.
Pavan followed a birdie at the ninth with a 25-footer at the 10th to briefly move two clear, only for Harrington to post matching gains around the turn and move alongside the Italian with a two-putt birdie at the 12th.
Harrington briefly moved into the outright lead by holing from eight feet at the 14th, as Pavan responded by birdieing the next and closing out a bogey-free back nine.
Green bogeyed his penultimate hole to close a two-under 70 and slip three off the pace, while Jamieson mixed six birdies and an eagle with four bogeys in an eventful third-round 68.
Ryder Cup hopeful Eddie Pepperell and Thomas Pieters, who both are looking to impress and secure a spot at Le Golf National, head into the final round six strokes off the pace.
Watch the final round of the D+D Real Czech Masters on Sunday from midday on Sky Sports Golf