McDowell and McGrane in the pack as Jaidee takes Porsche lead
Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee. Picture: Getty Images
Graeme McDowell and Damien McGrane are in back in the pack as Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee takes a one shot advantage into the final round of the Porsche European Open.
McDowell closed with a bogey for a 70 to get to six under as McGrane shot 71 to lie nine shots behind the Thai, whose seven under 64 at Golf Resort Bad Griesbach catapulted him into the lead. Live scoring
Former European Ryder Cup player Ross Fisher had set the pace for much of the day after four birdies in his opening 12 holes.
But the Englishman carded consecutive bogeys on the 15th and 16th holes to drop back to 12 under par.
Fisher, who won the European Open title seven years ago at the London Golf Club, was joined in a three-way share of second place by compatriot Graeme Storm (69), and Sweden’s Pelle Edberg, who signed for an eight under par 63.
Ryder Cup star Jamie Donaldson is a shot further back on 11 under par after a round of 67 which included an eagle on the 12th hole. He shares fifth place with Finland’s Mikko Ilonen and Sweden’s Magnus A Carlsson, both of whom signed for rounds of 67.
Meanwhile, Denmark’s Lasse Jensen aced the par three second hole in his round of 67 to register the 43rd hole-in-one of a record-breaking European Tour season.
Jaidee said: “I played solid all three rounds but today I putted much better. You have to have good tee shots here as the greens are tricky. I enjoy playing this course and my game is good right now.
"I’m confident and I hit a lot of good shots. Seven under is very good for me today. I’ve not had seven under for a long time.
"Normally I’ve been about four under par, but the greens are soft and I can attack the pins here.”
Fisher said: "It would mean a lot to win this trophy again. It’s great that the European Open is back on the schedule.
"Porsche is a great sponsor that have stepped up and there is so much history with the European Open. I’m fortunate to have won it before, and I’ve given myself a chance to win it again.”
Edberg was happy to play well having missed his last two cuts, explaining: “Coming into this week I didn’t have the best confidence but I still felt it wasn’t far off and it was nice to shoot a god score today.
"I’ve not been happy with my driver so I’ve changed a few things. As soon as I can get it in play I know I can shoot good numbers.
"I hope this has given me a chance. I might be three or four back come tomorrow, but anything could happen.”
Complete third round scores (par 71)
200 T Jaidee (Tha) 68 68 64,
201 R Fisher (Eng) 67 65 69, P Edberg (Swe) 67 71 63, G Storm (Eng) 65 67 69,
202 M Carlsson (Swe) 67 68 67, M Ilonen (Fin) 69 66 67, J Donaldson (Wal) 67 68 67,
203 S Kjeldsen (Den) 66 70 67, P Uihlein (USA) 68 68 67,
204 A Tadini (Ita) 68 69 67, L Bjerregaard (Den) 68 68 68, B Hebert (Fra) 64 72 68, P Hanson (Swe) 68 70 66, D Fichardt (RSA) 65 69 70, J Edfors (Swe) 66 68 70,
205 R Karlberg (Swe) 68 71 66, L Jensen (Den) 68 70 67, H Otto (RSA) 67 70 68, M Korhonen (Fin) 70 67 68,
206 R McEvoy (Eng) 66 67 73, B An (Kor) 68 65 73, J Morrison (Eng) 67 69 70, R Bland (Eng) 65 70 71, B Dredge (Wal) 68 70 68, J Walters (RSA) 67 68 71, J Parry (Eng) 66 70 70, S Hend (Aus) 69 69 68, M Jiménez (Esp) 67 69 70, G Havret (Fra) 69 70 67, R Jacquelin (Fra) 70 67 69,
207 S Wakefield (Eng) 69 70 68, B Langer (Ger) 66 71 70, M Kieffer (Ger) 68 68 71, C Bouniol (Fra) 69 70 68, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 69 70 68, C Schwartzel (RSA) 66 66 75, A Cañizares (Esp) 70 67 70, F Zanotti (Par) 70 68 69, O Fisher (Eng) 66 69 72, R Green (Aus) 65 72 70, S Benson (Eng) 68 70 69,
208 Graeme McDowell (Nir) 68 70 70, F Fritsch (Ger) 66 69 73, M Lundberg (Swe) 70 68 70, J Luiten (Ned) 69 69 70, E Espana (Fra) 69 69 70,
209 P Whiteford (Sco) 67 72 70, Damien McGrane (Irl) 71 67 71, R Karlsson (Swe) 66 72 71, A Hansen (Den) 69 68 72, S Jamieson (Sco) 68 70 71, M Fraser (Aus) 69 69 71, K Ferrie (Eng) 70 67 72, A Dodt (Aus) 70 68 71,
210 S Heisele (Ger) 70 67 73, A Choi (Can) 70 69 71, L Slattery (Eng) 68 71 71,
211 N Colsaerts (Bel) 72 66 73, J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 68 71 72, M Nixon (Eng) 71 68 72,
212 A Levy (Fra) 72 67 73, P Mejow (Ger) 68 71 73,
213 R Finch (Eng) 66 72 75, C Paisley (Eng) 67 72 74,
215 B Evans (Eng) 68 70 77,
217 W Ormsby (Aus) 72 67 78.
