Ferguson leading pack on final day
EWEN FERGUSON retained his lead on day three of the 2022 ISPS Handa World Invitational presented by Aviv Clinics with a third round of 68 at Galgorm Castle Golf Club.
The Scot, winner in March of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, set up the chance of a second DP World Tour win with a controlled round which featured four birdies and two bogeys.
Ferguson had come under pressure on the second day with his level-par round at the Massereene Golf Club after setting a course record nineunder-par 61 on day one at Galgorm.
This week’s event in Northern Ireland is trisanctioned by the DP World Tour, Ladies European Tour and LPGA Tour, with separate male and female tournaments being played on the same two courses at the same time and for two equal prize funds of
US$1.5million each.
Italian amateur Filippo Celli emerged from the pack to challenge Ferguson as an eagle on the fourth saw him claim the lead on 11 under but that was as good as it got, a double bogey on nine dropping him four shots off the lead.
A birdie at 10 handed Ferguson a four-shot advantage but successive bogeys on 14 and 15 saw his lead cut before he stopped the rot with pars on 16 and 17 and a birdie on the last to lead by three after a round of 68.
American John Catlin’s 66 took him to second ahead of a four-way tie for third on seven under involving Spaniard Borja Virto, Denmark’s Marcus Helligkilde, Scotland’s Connor Syme and England’s Jack Senior.
Ferguson admitted he had to work hard after his fine opening day.
He said: “It becomes a bit tough and you just need to try and grind it. I kind of accepted that and just tried to hit some good shots. My swing still feels good and I’ve got a nice rhythm and all that stuff.
“[For] 36 holes I played really, really good. Today was such a grind. I knew that I didn’t feel great on the range and it was going to be a grind, so I battled away and chipped and putted my way to shooting a really good 68 around a tough golf course and extended my lead. Can’t ask for much more, to be honest.”
Syme, meanwhile, was feeling bullish about his chances going into the final day.
“My game feels good,” he said. “I feel like I found something at the Scottish Open, to be honest. My game felt like it was trending quite nicely at that point.
“Maybe my results don’t show it quite as much, but my game felt good, and it was nice to kind of have that rewarded last week. Obviously rolling into this week has been promising so far as well. I just need to get the foot down tomorrow right the start and try and go as low as I can tomorrow.”
Things were a lot closer in the women’s tournament where American Amanda Doherty led for the third day in a row, this time by one shot from Georgia Hall and Peiyun Chien who played together and battled all day long.
Doherty birdied the last to go to 12 under and lead by one from 2018 Women’s British Open winner Hall and the 31-year-old from Chinese Taipei who both had threeunder-par rounds of 70, with Doherty finishing one under for the day.
The LGPA Tour rookie said: “I think overall it was a good day. I got off to a bit of a rough start and I hit a few crazy shots today and I managed to come back from that.”
Today was such a grind. I knew that I didn’t feel great on the range and it was going to be a grind, so I battled away to shooting 68 around a tough golf course