Callum Tarren, Anton Albers and Hamish Brown will take a one-stroke lead into the final day of the Raiffeisenbank Golf Challenge after the trio reached 14 under par on day three.
Tarren, who held a three-stroke lead heading into the third round, mixed four birdies with two bogeys to card a third round 69. Hamish Brown made his seventh birdie of the day on the 17th to move one clear but dropped his second shot of the afternoon on the 18th to move back to 14 under par, a target Albers had earlier set with his second 66 of the week.
Despite not taking advantage of scorable conditions on moving day at Kaskáda Golf Resort, Tarren is pleased with his performance in the opening three rounds.
“It’s been pretty solid, really,” he said. “A lot of birdies, a couple of mistakes here and there, but I’m just disappointed with today’s round not to press on a little bit more.
“After yesterday, I gave myself a target of 20 under par, I thought eight under par for the weekend to reach that number. If I shoot five or six under par tomorrow, you never know what could happen.
“I’ve got to keep doing what I’m doing and giving myself chances, and hopefully I’ll be in a good spot at the end of the day tomorrow.”
Albers started the day as one of four players three shots behind overnight leader Tarren and was pleased to make up ground on the Englishman, with an eagle on the first setting up a bogey free round on moving day.
“It’s always nice to stay bogey free,” he said. “I hit some nice shots, and I’m pleased with how it went.
“My long game was very good, there was only two holes where I was out of position and I managed to recover from those, it was very solid overall.
“I’m confident with my game this week. I’m just trying to keep that going into tomorrow and then see how it unfolds.
“I didn’t get the start I wanted on the Road to Mallorca, especially after coming close to getting my DP World Tour card. It was nice to have an off week last week and have a reset. There is just under half of the season and I’m hoping to go and finish strong.”
Brown has fond memories of Kaskada Golf Club, having won the 2024 edition of this week’s event, and is feeling right at home this week, with just two dropped shots in round two and three combined.
“All in all, I’m very happy,” he said. “The wind was a little different today which makes the par fives a little bit harder and the par fours a little bit easier in places.
“I’m trying to take more ownership of my game, instead of doing what the golf course tells you to.
“I like the course. I don’t think I can dwell too much on what I’ve done before. It’s nice knowing you’ve done it before.
“Obviously everyone is trying to win, I’m not too focused on that, I play best when I don’t focus too much on that.
“When I’m standing on the 18th fairway tomorrow, you never know. It could be a good day”
The trio hold a one-stroke lead over Japan’s Tatsunori Shogenji who occupies solo fourth on thirteen under par, two strokes ahead of Denmark’s Kristan Hjort Bressum, America’s Alex Goff, Italian Matteo Cristoni and Germany’s Marc Hammer in fifth.
The final round of the Raiffeisenbank Golf Challenge will get under way at 6:35am local time, with Tarren teeing off alongside Shogenji at 11:30am. Albers and Brown form the final group and will tee off at 11:40am.
