Caldwell primed and ready to make move at British Masters

JONATHAN Caldwell is in the top 10 with one round to go at the British Masters and well on course for his best European Tour finish so far.

The Clandeboye golfer added a four-under-par 67 in yesterday’s third round to reach 10 under par for the week and go into today’s final round in a tie for eighth, just five behind leader Renato Paratore.

To date, his best top tour finish is a tie for 14th in December’s Alfred Dunhill Championship but another positive round and he can surpass that mark.

Yesterday was his first bogey-free round of the week, and he is now on a run of 34 holes without a dropped shot.

It’s Caldwell’s first start since the Tour swung back into action, having missed out the opening back-to-back events in Austria. Having come through Tour school in November, Caldwell is playing only his second season on Europe’s top tour, the first coming way back in 2009 when he failed to retain his card.

He will have no such issues this year, with playing rights set to be retained for 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Nonetheless, he’ll be hoping to finish higher than his current 136th-place ranking in the

Race to Dubai. Normally, a top 115 spot is required to retain the Tour card.

With South African Justin Harding and Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard one and two shots behind respectively, another man in the thick of the chase is England’s Sam Horsfield.

The 23-year-old, also searching for his first European Tour success, carded a breathtaking 10-under-par third round at Close House GC in Newcastle-upon-tyne to reach 12 under, three shots back.

His 61 featured, amazingly, three eagles — each on par fives — five birdies and one bogey.

“I’ve never carded three eagles before in a tournament,” he said.