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Oct 4th, 2020
Fleetwood on the heels of Rock in Scotland
Great third round in terrible conditions from Englishman
Words: GolfPunk Photography: Getty Images
Tommy Fleetwood will go in search of a third Rolex Series victory at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open after making the most of wet conditions at The Renaissance Club.
The 29-year-old carded a brilliant round of 69 to move up the leaderboard and will tee it up in final group tomorrow alongside leader Robert Rock, who has a two shot advantage at nine-under-par, and Australian Wade Ormsby.
“To be fair, there was a period early doors where it was fine. It was playable and I think as the rain got worse, obviously, you get wetter and the day gets a bit longer, but when we sort of got to the edge of the golf course and the wind picked up, the rain, this is the worst it's been all day," said Fleetwood.
“And 18, finishing with a birdie. I said on the fairway, again, stood over the ball and I was pretty prepared for any scenario after hitting that one. I could have duffed it or shanked it or done whatever and wouldn't have been too surprised."
Fleetwood is joined at seven under par alongside Ryder Cup teammate Ian Poulter, who battled to a 73, Swede Marcus Kinhult (71) and Ormsby (70).
“It tests everything, that you have. You've got all shots from archives you haven't hit for a while. It's miserable. But we're playing golf. We're in a lucky position to be here playing this Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open for a lot of money. So a lot of guys have put a lot of hard work in to get us here. We're here. We're wet. So we just need to dry off and go again tomorrow." said Poulter after his round in awful conditions.
“I'm going to say it was a massive mental challenge, and we needed all of the greenkeepers help to get us here. They were squeegeeing hard the last few holes to get us in to close of play today. It's not easy. That wasn't an easy test of golf."
Spaniard Adri Arnaus, Frenchman Victor Dubuisson and Malaysia's Gavin Green shared the lowest rounds of the day with a trio of 67s to sit at five under alongside England's Andy Sullivan, who recorded a 69.
Home favourite Robert MacIntyre carded a 68 to sit in a group of 12 players at four under including fellow Scotsmen Grant Forrest and Marc Warren, and Rolex Series champions Brandon Stone and Lee Westwood.
The 29-year-old carded a brilliant round of 69 to move up the leaderboard and will tee it up in final group tomorrow alongside leader Robert Rock, who has a two shot advantage at nine-under-par, and Australian Wade Ormsby.
“To be fair, there was a period early doors where it was fine. It was playable and I think as the rain got worse, obviously, you get wetter and the day gets a bit longer, but when we sort of got to the edge of the golf course and the wind picked up, the rain, this is the worst it's been all day," said Fleetwood.
“And 18, finishing with a birdie. I said on the fairway, again, stood over the ball and I was pretty prepared for any scenario after hitting that one. I could have duffed it or shanked it or done whatever and wouldn't have been too surprised."
Fleetwood is joined at seven under par alongside Ryder Cup teammate Ian Poulter, who battled to a 73, Swede Marcus Kinhult (71) and Ormsby (70).
“It tests everything, that you have. You've got all shots from archives you haven't hit for a while. It's miserable. But we're playing golf. We're in a lucky position to be here playing this Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open for a lot of money. So a lot of guys have put a lot of hard work in to get us here. We're here. We're wet. So we just need to dry off and go again tomorrow." said Poulter after his round in awful conditions.
“I'm going to say it was a massive mental challenge, and we needed all of the greenkeepers help to get us here. They were squeegeeing hard the last few holes to get us in to close of play today. It's not easy. That wasn't an easy test of golf."
Spaniard Adri Arnaus, Frenchman Victor Dubuisson and Malaysia's Gavin Green shared the lowest rounds of the day with a trio of 67s to sit at five under alongside England's Andy Sullivan, who recorded a 69.
Home favourite Robert MacIntyre carded a 68 to sit in a group of 12 players at four under including fellow Scotsmen Grant Forrest and Marc Warren, and Rolex Series champions Brandon Stone and Lee Westwood.