Aaron Cockerill, Antoine Rozner and Lars van Meijel will take a one-shot lead into the final round at the Hopps Open de Provence at Golf International de Pont Royal.
The trio all recorded sub-70 rounds on a low scoring day at the Seve Ballesteros-designed course, with Cockerill and van Meijel signing for rounds of 69, three under par, while home favourite Rozner shot a six under par round of 66.
Cockerill and van Meijel are both searching for their maiden European Challenge Tour title and moved into a share of first place at 11 under par after Rozner had set the target. The Frenchman, a two-time winner on the Road to Mallorca in 2019, will go in search of his third Challenge Tour victory – and with it instant promotion to the European Tour.
The 26-year-old won the Challenge de España and Prague Golf Challenge in May and carded eight birdies during his round, including five in his last six holes – four back-to-back to finish – to sit in prime position to win his third title of the campaign on home soil.
“Five birdies in the last six was great,” Rozner said. “I played great and made some great putts at the end. The putt at 17 was one of the best putts I’ve hit in my life. It was a very clutch finish to get back in contention and make it close for tomorrow.
“I was playing well on home soil at the Open de Bretagne as well. I was a bit far back, but I was close at the end. It is very exciting playing on home soil and there are big crowds and you want to enjoy every moment of it as it doesn’t happen every week.”
🔴🔴🔴🔴 @AntoineRozner finished with a flourish. #OpenDeProvence pic.twitter.com/YaDkJC1Nlf
— Challenge Tour (@Challenge_Tour) September 28, 2019
Canada’s Cockerill stayed calmed during an up and down front nine but was pleased with his bogey-free back nine, which leaves him in a position he has never been in before.
“I knew I was hitting the ball well during the front nine, so I knew the birdies would come,” he said. “It was a solid back nine. I made a 15 foot putt for birdie at 16, which was probably the longest putt I’ve holed this week.
“I hit it pretty solid and didn’t make too many mistakes, so I’m going to try and do more of the same tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll get a few putts to go in and I’ll have a good chance to win. I haven’t been in this position before so I’m looking forward to it. I’ll just worry about myself and see what happens.”
A stroke behind the trio is Frenchman Robin Roussel, looking to win on home soil for a second time on the Road to Mallorca this year, and Spain’s Sebastian Garcia Rodriguez. Roussel recorded a round of 69 while Garcia Rodriguez shot up the leaderboard with a five under par round of 67, including three birdies in his final three holes.
It was a disappointing day for overnight leaders Sebastian Heisele and amateur Jeong Weon Ko, as they both signed for rounds of 74, two over par, and share sixth place at eight under par alongside eight other players.
The final round at the Hopps Open de Provence will get under way at 8:50am local time with Cockerill, Rozner and van Meijel teeing off at 10:50am.
