Scottish rookie leads on 16 under with Thomas Detry and Antoine Rozner
Saturday 7 December 2019 15:12, UK
Calum Hill birdied the final two holes to reclaim a share of the lead after the third round of the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.
Hill responded to his second dropped shot of the day at the 16th with a spirited birdie-birdie finish to cap a 68 which leaves him tied at the top with Thomas Detry and Antoine Rozner on 16 under par.
The Scottish rookie slept on the outright lead overnight and, after offsetting a birdie at the second with a bogey at the next, he put together a run of three consecutive birdies from the fifth as the top end of the leaderboard became more congested.
The birdie putts dried up for Hill over the next eight holes, and his frustration was evident when he bogeyed the 16th, but he regrouped to convert a good approach to the 17th before closing with his 21st birdie of the week at the par-five last.
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"It was nice to have a couple of birdies to finish off and sneak back into a tie for the lead," said Hill, who is playing in just his sixth European Tour event this week. "Happy with how it finished off. It was similar to my morning round yesterday, wasn't much wind then either. The scoring was good out there if you played well.
"I hit a lot of nice shots to start off the back nine until the par five but couldn't get my putts, needed to hit it six inches harder on every hole. Then on the par five - if you get your driver right it should be a birdie today or even better - I managed to drop it into the hazard. Got lucky, managed to whack it out and save par.
"Eight under might do it (tomorrow). I could do with another one of those and I might be able to come in with a smile on my face."
Detry mixed seven birdies with two bogeys in a 67, while Rozner also birdied 17 and 18 after a bogey at the 16th having earlier driven the green at the par-four fifth and rolled in an excellent putt for eagle in his 66.
First round co-leader Rasmus Hojgaard matched his opening 66 to climb into a share of second on 15 under with Sihwan Kim, while European Tour winners Brandon Stone (69) and Renato Paratore (66) are just two shots off the lead heading into Sunday's final round.
Hill's compatriot Connor Syme produced a superb response to a double-bogey at the 11th as he eagled the 14th and birdied two of the last three holes to post a 69 which leaves him three behind along with Belgian Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who made four straight birdies around the turn in his 68.
