John Catlin will take a one-stroke lead into the final round of the English Open supported by HotelPlanner after carding a three under par third round of 69 at the Vale Golf Club.
The American mixed six birdies with three bogeys to reach 13 under par in Worcestershire, with Norway’s Kristian Krogh Johannessen and Belgian Matthis Besard a stroke back on 12 under par.
Starting the third round in a share of the lead, Catlin lost ground following an opening bogey but responded with his first birdie of the day on the par three fifth. He found his form around the turn, rattling off four consecutive gains from the eighth to pull two clear at the top.
A bogey on 12 was followed by his sixth birdie of the day on 13, before he dropped back to 13 under following a bogey on the 16th. After finishing with back-to-back pars on 17 and 18, the 35 year old was pleased with how he responded after his slow start.
“I hung in there well,” he said. “I didn’t have the greatest of starts, but got really hot around the turn. I was able to make four birdies and the putter was hot. The momentum there was big and you want to keep it on your side as much as possible.
“It wasn’t my best, but I hung in there well and I’ve got the lead heading into tomorrow and I’m looking forward to that opportunity.”
Catlin is a three-time winner on the DP World Tour, having won the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters and Dubai Duty Free Irish Open in 2020, and the Austrian Golf Open in 2021, his most recent triumph on Golf’s Global Tour.
He has also won six times on the Asian Tour and he is hoping experience will see him over the line once more this weekend.
“I can look myself in the mirror and say honestly that I’ve been here before,” he added.
“I know what I must do and I’m going to try my hardest to execute it once more.
“I feel like all of my game is solid. When one part isn’t sharp, another part has picked up the slack a little bit. I feel like I’ve done that really well this week. It’s always nice to have a one-stroke advantage going into tomorrow.”
Johannessen finished his round with four consecutive birdies from the 15th hole to sign for a seven under par round of 65. Meanwhile, Besard posted six birdies on his back nine in a round of 68.
South African Justin Walters and German Dominic Foos share fourth position on ten under. Swedes Per Längfors and Christofer Blomstrand, Slovakian Tadeáš Tetak, South African MJ Daffue and German duo Alexander Knappe and Jannik de Bruyn all sit one shot further back on nine under.
The final round of the English Open supported by HotelPlanner gets under way at 7:20am with Catlin and Johannessen teeing off in the final group at 12:40pm.
