Thomas Pieters fires a third round 65 to lead the Czech Masters
Sunday 30 August 2015 18:17, UK
Thomas Pieters recovered from being handed a two-stroke penalty to take a narrow one-shot lead in to the final round of the Czech Masters.
The Belgian star followed an eagle at the par-five first with seven birdies during another impressive round at the Albatross Golf Resort, but missed out on moving further clear of Pelle Edberg after playing the wrong ball from the rough at the 11th.
Noticing his error when he spotted his original ball a few feet closer to the flag, Pieters pitched to ten feet after being handed his penalty and two putted to card a double-bogey.
Although Pieters bounced back with gains on three of the next five holes, including a 20-foot birdie from the fringe at the 16th to close a seven-under 65, he admitted he was frustrated not to take a bigger advantage in to the final round.
"I finished off with a couple of birdies, but I need to learn from it (the error at the 11th) obviously and not make stupid mistakes like that," Pieters told Sky Sports 4.
"The 11th hurts a little bit because it is my mistake. It could have been a lower one but I'm still really happy with the way I played, and seven under is a good score on a Saturday.
"It's never happened to me before, I normally check my ball. I got close to my ball and they pointed at the ball laying there to say it was mine."
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Overnight joint-leader Edberg continued his strong week with a bogey-free 67 and will be part of the final group to tee off on Sunday, with Thorbjorn Olesen a further three strokes off the pace.
A run of four straight birdies around the turn moved Robert Dinwiddie in to a tie for fourth alongside Matthew Fitzpatrick, as Mikael Lundberg fired a course record 64 to break in to the large group on nine under.
"It's fantastic to finally get a good result as I've been playing quite well over the past two days," Lundberg said. "I needed some more putts, but they all came today."
Watch the final round of the Czech Masters live from 11.30am on Sunday on Sky Sports 4 - your home of golf
