Soudal Open: Day three digest

Zander Lombard burst clear, MJ Daffue put a positive spin on his club woes and eagles were the order of the day in round three of the Soudal Open. Here is everything you need to know from Saturday at Rinkven International Golf Club.

Big finish sends Lombard clear

Lombard produced a brilliant birdie-birdie-birdie finish on day three to catapult himself into a three-shot lead heading into the final round in Belgium. The South African started the day in a share of the lead and while he quickly jumped clear, a wobble in the middle of the round allowed countryman Daffue to join him in the lead after a 65. Lombard, however, was clearly not in the mood to be caught and his big finish saw him sign for a 66 and vault to 18 under as he looks to seal a maiden DP World Tour title in wire-to-wire style. Dane Jacob Skov Olesen, England's Ben Schmidt and Frenchman Tom Vaillant were at 14 under, a shot clear of Swede Albin Bergstrom, Spain's Jorge Campillo, Englishman Andrew Johnston and South Africa's Richard Sterne. “That putt on 18 was kind of an awkward double breaker and to put a good roll on it and to see it go in, that makes you sleep a little better tonight and come out fresh tomorrow," said Lombard. “You don’t deserve anything in golf but I think I've worked really hard for it. It was a very slow turn, around nine, ten, 11, 12, a couple of loose shots. So to have that three-shot lead after hitting a couple of bad shots, it's very nice going into tomorrow.”

Missing clubs prove blessing in disguise for Daffue

It was a case of no clubs, no problem for Daffue as a brilliant 65 put him in the mix for a maiden DP World Tour title. The South African's equipment did not arrive at Rinkven until Wednesday night but that proved a blessing in disguise as he worked with suppliers PING on a contingency. That led to him finding something in his putting stroke and now, after rounds of 67-66-65, he heads into Sunday three shots behind Lombard. "I worked on the putting," he said. "It has been quite an interesting week not having my clubs until Wednesday evening late, and you use everything to your advantage. I was able to work with the PING guys on my putter and putting, and we were able to figure a few things out, so it's been a very good week on that front."

Kimsey goes low to make big move

Nathan Kimsey carded his lowest DP World Tour round of the season to vault himself up the leaderboard. The Englishman is on track for a career-best campaign with four top tens already and after a third-round 63 at Rinkven, a maiden victory could be on the cards. Kimsey has achieved the rare feat of graduating onto the DP World Tour by winning both the Road to Mallorca and the Qualifying School but injuries to his hand and wrist in recent seasons have made it hard for him to fully establish himself. But after winning U.S. Open Qualifying on Monday with the help of a 62, he has brought that form to Belgium and is feeling confident heading into the final round. “It's been good, I feel like it's trending,” he said. “I've been working hard the last few weeks, trying to iron out a few things, and it seems to be working so far. It’s a been a good week overall so far, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Big birds aplenty

Everybody loves a short par four and today on the 11th we had not one but two hole-out eagles. Lovely stuff.

Never anywhere else

The stroke. The roll. The camera angle. The result. Sometimes it just all comes together.