Miles Tunnicliff took a step closer to fulfilling a promise made to his late mother when he moved into a share of the lead with David Gilford and Sven Strüver after the third round of The Great North Open at De Vere Slaley Hall.
The 33 year old Englishman, who lives in Marbella, has not played competitive golf for a month following the death of his mother Pam from cancer and revealed she had urged him a couple of weeks before she passed away to go out and win his maiden professional tournament.
“It was a hard time for me because she had seemed to recover and was given the all clear but then it came back with a vengeance and that was that,” he said. “But she told me to go out and win so I am trying my best to do that.”
Tunnicliff gave himself the chance for victory with a stunning front nine on the Hunting Course, his figures of six under par 30 representing the best front nine ever, surpassing the 31 carded by Scotland’s Ross Drummond in 1996 and Australian Richard Green last year on his way to the course record 64.
Tunnicliff, however, did not threaten that, taking his foot off the gas on the way home for a 68, a move the Challenge Tour player admitted had been premeditated. “It was a tough windy day so it was inevitable I would do that coming home,” he said. “I didn’t want to make mistakes.”
Tunnicliff, who currently lies 62nd on the Challenge Tour Rankings and 280th on the Volvo Order of Merit, was joined on six under par 210 by his playing partner Gilford, who took up the birdie baton on the inward half, carding four without mistake to be home in 32 for a 67.
“It was nice to play with Miles because he started very well and I hit a couple of loose shots early on but I kind of got dragged along,” he said. “I picked up on the back nine though and hit every fairway and green. I didn’t hole anything of any great length on the back nine but I didn’t have to because my approach play was so good.”
Gilford, who lost in a play-off to Carl Pettersson in the Algarve Open de Portugal in April, admitted help from several sources had got him back on track after he finished 144th on the Volvo Order of Merit last season.
“I’ve had a couple of lessons from David Whelan, done some chipping with Paul Affleck and had two or three sessions with the psychologist John Allsop,” he said. “I think after Portugal it sort of snowballed, I’d been playing well but didn’t have much confidence but after that I got some confidence and since then I have been better and better.”
Joining the English duo on six under par 210 was Strüver, who started the day a shot clear of the field but who looked to have slipped out of contention after a disappointing front nine of 40 where he missed four greens and made four bogeys.
But the 34 year old German, a three time winner on The European Tour International Schedule, showed grit and determination to battle back, covering the inward half in 34 to keep his challenge for the first prize of 155,960 euro (£100,000) alive.
“I am pleased with the way I came back,” he said. “It could have got worse for me after my front nine but I saw the guys up front weren’t making that big a move. Even though the back nine is perhaps easier, you still have to hit good shots to make the birdies and I did that so I was pleased. I am still in it – I am not here to give up.”
One shot behind the leading trio were another couple of Englishmen, Brian Davis, who included an eagle and five birdies in his 68, and David Lynn, who joined him on five under par 211 after birdieing three of the last five holes for a 69.
However, with such a tight leaderboard, many players will go into the final round harbouring a realistic hope of success and indeed at the end of play, the top 18 players were covered by only five shots.
