Francesco Molinari and Byeong Hun An tied for lead at Wentworth
Sunday 24 May 2015 09:47, UK
Francesco Molinari and Byeong Hun An share the 54-hole lead at the BMW PGA Championship after an enthralling third day featuring a record-breaking hole-in-one from Miguel Angel Jimenez and an albatross by Tommy Fleetwood.
Molinari broke 70 for the third day running as he fired a 68 to reach 14 under, but playing partner An birdied the last two holes to cap a 67 and join the Italian at the top of the leaderboard.
Thongchai Jaidee enjoyed a brief spell in the lead after he birdied the first two holes and then eagled the fourth, where Fleetwood had earlier sent the crowd into raptures when he holed a seven-iron from 198 yards for only the third albatross two in tournament history.
Moments later, the Wentworth galleries erupted again when Jimenez's tee-shot at the 150-yard third pitched over the pin and spun back into the hole, making him the first man to record 10 aces in European Tour competition.
Fleetwood also had an eagle at the second, and his birdie-par finish earned him a "perfect set" of albatross, eagle, birdie and par at each of the four par-fives on the West Course.
His seven-under 65 lifted him to 11 under, while Jimenez is a shot further back after he bounced back from bogeys at 12 and 15 with birdies at 16 and 18 for the third day in a row in an entertaining 68.
South Korean An, who blitzed through the field late on Friday with a best-of-the-week 64, started with a sublime approach to the first to leave a tap-in birdie to tie Molinari in the lead, but the Italian responded with his first birdie of the day at the tough third.
Three-shot lead
Molinari then reclaimed the outright lead ahead of Jaidee with birdies at seven and eight, while An enjoyed a good run after the turn with three birdies in four holes from the 11th. Molinari had opened up a three-shot lead with birdies at 12 and 13, but his advantage over An was back down to one after he missed a short putt for par at the 14th.
An then bogeyed 15, but he rallied with two closing birdies as Molinari was forced to scramble for a pair of pars after missing both fairways, and he did well to get up and down at the last after he blocked his third short and right of the green.
Jaidee could not build on his blistering start, although he birdied the last to return a 68 which lifted him to 12 under, one ahead of Fleetwood and two clear of his fellow veteran Jimenez.
Live European Tour Golf
Last year's runner-up Shane Lowry gave himself an outside chance of going one better as he carded three birdies and an eagle in a flawless 67 that got him to within six of the leaders, while Chris Wood hit back from his disappointing second-round 73 with a 68 to close on seven under par.
Live coverage of the final round at Wentworth starts Sunday at 12pm on Sky Sports 4 - your home of golf.
