Christofer Blomstrand will take a two-stroke lead into the final day the Scottish Challenge supported by The R&A by battling to a one under par 70 at SCHLOSS Roxburghe.
Blomstrand carded two birdies and a bogey on day three, taking his total to 16 under par for the week in testing afternoon conditions in Scotland. The Swede, led by two at the start of play on moving day but a dropped shot at the par four second saw Blomstrand’s total for the week reduced to 14 under par. The 34-year old made birdie at the fifth to turn at level par for the day, before a solitary back-nine gain, at the tenth saw him once again pull clear at the top.
“I didn’t play as good today as I did yesterday,” he said. “It’s not that easy out there.
“It’s easy to be in the wrong place, especially on a day like today where I didn’t hit it that good off the tee.”
Blomstrand carded a ten under par 61 on day two to take his total to 15 under par for the week, carding nine more strokes on day three, but the Swede was philosophical in his approach ahead of Saturday’s round.
“I didn’t have any expectations,” he added. “It was a new day, it’s golf, it’s still a hard game so I just came here and did my best today.
“The conditions were similar to yesterday in terms of the wind direction and strength, but I just didn’t manage to play as good.
“The greens are getting harder, it’s harder to hit the right spots on the greens.”
A rocky day for Blomstrand’s playing partner, Tomas Gouveia, saw the Portuguese card a two over par front nine to allow Blomstrand some breathing space at the top. Gouveia, however, finished strongly with birdies at the 11th, 14th and 17th close the gap to just two strokes. Despite shooting just one under par, Blomstrand was happy to remain in the lead ahead of the final day in Scotland.
“I’m just super happy that I’m still in the lead,” he said. “I’m going to go home now, I’m quite tired.
“It’s time to recharge the batteries and go again tomorrow.”
Scotland’s Marc Warren, Spaniard Javier Barcos Garbayo, Englishman Andrew Wilson and Belgian James Meyer De Beco join German duo Jannik Paul and Hurly Long in a tie for third place, three-strokes behind Gouveia. Seven players share ninth place, one-stroke off the six-way share of third.
The final round of the Scottish Challenge supported by The R&A gets under way at 7:27am local time with Blomstrand teeing off alongside Gouveia at 12:34pm.
