After posting a quite astounding halfway total of 20 under par 122 that included a second round 59, Adrien Mörk was brought back to earth at the European Challenge Tour’s Tikida Hotels Agadir Moroccan Classic with a third round of three over par 74.
The Frenchman still leads the tournament on 17 under 196, but saw his lead cut from ten strokes to just two going into the final round at the Golf du Soleil. Belgium’s Nicolas Vanhootegem is in second place on 15 under par, with Argentina’s Rafael Echenique and another Frenchman, Julien van Hauwe, on 14 under.
When added to his opening round of 63, Mörk’s magical 59 gave him a 36 hole total of 20 under par 122, and saw him replace Tiger Woods and Frankie Minoza in the Tour’s record books as the holder of lowest opening 36 hole score on any of the three Tours.
That 20 under par total also eclipsed Ernie Els’s Tour record of the lowest opening 36 hole score in relation to par, while the 19 birdies he has produced over the opening two days in Morocco account for the most scored by any player over two rounds in the history of all three tours.
Mörk was the first to admit that he struggled to focus on his third round over the Golf du Soleil, having produced that record breaking 59 just 24 hours previously.
The 26 year old must have felt that he was playing a different game as he went to the turn in 40, some 11 shots worse than his first nine holes during Friday’s record breaking effort.
Another dropped stroke at the 11th, coupled with the sight of the chasing pack tieing him for the lead, provided the shock Mörk required to stop going backwards. To his credit, he bounced back well with two birdies in a row on the 13th and 14th and then was unlucky not to pick up strokes on the 16th and 17th.
“It was a tough day,” said the Frenchman. “I found it very hard to focus because so many of the shots that I had played during the 59 were still fresh in my mind. Then when you drop a couple of shots you feel the pressure of the guys behind me all playing well and coming at me.
“I felt a lot of tension out there but I fought well today – just like I had yesterday but with different circumstances. I thought too much about the leaderboard today and worried about my score too much. I won’t do that again tomorrow – I am just going to focus on my own game again and I am confident that I can win it.”
