Charlie Ford took a one shot advantage into the final round of the Vacon Open, but the four under par 67 on his scorecard came nowhere close to describing a dramatic day for the Englishman in which he bounced back from a triple-bogey eight to finish with back to back birdies.
Ford shares his surname with a famous automobile brand and it was certainly apt on a day when he took the scenic route to the top at the picturesque Kytäjä Golf, firing on all cylinders for the opening 12 holes before one car-crash hole knocked him off course.
That triple-bogey at the par five 14th meant the 29 year old fell one shot behind Mark Tullo, having led by four shots at one point, but he rallied to two closing birdies to earn the outright overnight lead.
The Leicester native, who had shared the overnight lead after round one, moved to 14 under par and while he was disappointed not to have opened up a wider gap at the top, he was over the moon with the round as a whole.
“I hit it unbelievably well all day,” said Ford, who won his maiden Challenge Tour back in 2010 at the Turkish Airlines Challenge. “I was six under in those first 13 holes and I had chances to be more than that. It’s probably the best I’ve ever hit it over a long stretch of holes
“Then I got to 14, hit a perfect drive to the middle of the fairway, could have gone right of the tree and tried to get on in two, but I decided to be sensible and lay up to the left.
“I lost that shot to the right, into the hazard and from there, maybe I tried to be a little too cute and go for it, but it took me three to get out of the hazard in the end. I knocked it up to 12 feet, put my first putt past and then missed the five-footer coming back.
“That shook me a little bit for a couple of holes, and I bogeyed the 16th, but there was a little walk to the 17th and I just tried my best to regroup. I knew there were two good chances coming in, if I could just trust myself again, and I hit four really good shots on the last two for two nice birdies.
“It was a nice comeback after what could have been a disastrous run. I was in complete cruise control, to have something so shocking happen I could have easily parred the last two and come back really disappointed.
“I felt I really showed some character there to bounce back and I definitely feel a lot better now than I could have done.”
Ford also led the field by one heading into the final round of the Swiss Challenge presented by Association Suisse de Golf in July, but dropped back to a tie for seventh place after a disappointing final round 74.
He feels he has learned from that experience though, and is looking forward to once again vying for a second Challenge Tour title.
“It didn’t really go my way that day in Switzerland,” he said. “I don’t feel like I did too much wrong but I think my mind set could have been a little bit better. I was playing well enough to carry on for a win but didn’t trust myself as much as I should have.
“My coach has told me it often takes a missed chance and to be knocked back before you’re ready and you see that with a lot of guys. Hopefully tomorrow will be my chance to bounce back from that.
“I love the golf course, one of the best if not the best we’ve played all year. Apart from a couple of loose swing I feel like I've hit it really well for three rounds so hopefully I can make it four.”
Tullo, meanwhile, made a significant move on moving day and he will enter the final round one shot behind Ford on 13 under par courtesy of a six under par 65.
He feels he has the requisite experience to stay in the mix as he chases a third Challenge Tour title and a first since 2010, when he won twice to graduate to The European Tour.
“It was a really good round,” said the 36 year old. “It was one of those ones where, off the tee, you’re on the fairway all day and my iron shots were pretty good too. I gave myself 18 chances and I took advantage of the par fives
“It was one of the most solid rounds I’ve had all year, just middle of the fairways, middle of the greens with some aggressive shots in there. I'm just glad to be there with a chance for the first time this year on the Challenge Tour.
“I always think to get back on The European Tour you have to win once on the Challenge Tour at least. You can’t only finish top fives and top threes, that won’t work
“Hopefully back nine tomorrow I have a chance to get a win and if it doesn’t happen I’ll keep on trying.
“My nerves have almost gone past being nervous now! It’s always good to have some nerves to get you pumped up but I’ve been through so much in my career that stuff doesn’t faze me anymore. I'm just going to go out there and play well and if it happens, great. Hopefully I have a good day tomorrow.”
Pelle Edberg carded the round of the day as the Swede briefly threatened to make the magic number of 59, negotiating his first 15 holes in ten under par before a double-bogey at the eighth, his 17th, put paid to those hopes.
An eight under par 63, however, was enough to move him to 11 under par and just three shots off the lead, behind Austria’s HP Bacher and Guillaume Cambis of France, who both carded level par 71s to share third place on 12 under.
