Andrew Wilson will take a one-stroke lead into the final round of the Infortar Estonian Challenge after carding a four under par round of 68 to reach 15 under on Saturday.
Wilson, who finished his second round on Saturday morning after weather delays lead to play being suspended on Friday, signed for his first bogey free round of the week to create a one-shot cushion over Scotland’s Rory Franssen.
The Englishman, ranked 107th in the Road to Mallorca Rankings, is looking forward to the opportunity tomorrow presents to turn his season around.
“It feels great,” he said. “I’ve not had the best of seasons so to be in contention is always a good thing and let’s hope I can continue it tomorrow.
“I didn’t play my best today; I was out of position quite a bit. I still had quite a few opportunities, and I holed a nice one on 16. That’s always a nice little bonus towards the end of the round.”
Wilson had to return at 08:00am on Saturday morning to play the final three holes of his second round, during which he found one birdie to reach eleven under par at the halfway stage.
The 32-year-old then made four birdies without a blemish in his third round, picking up a closing gain on the 18th to take the outright lead into Sunday, on his way to a 68.
But Wilson says he has been keeping his eyes off the leaderboard throughout the tournament.
“I’ve strictly told my caddy he’s not allowed to look at the scoring, even though I think he’s gone against it, but I’m trying not to get too far ahead of myself,” he added.
“I feel I do a pretty poor job of that so I’m just trying to stay in the present, take one shot at a time and see where I end up.”
Wilson spent the 2022-2025 seasons on the DP World Tour, but has struggled since returning to the Road to Mallorca.
However, the Englishman, who graduated from the HotelPlanner Tour in 2021, can take a lot of confidence from his time on Golf’s Global Tour, as well as his recent close call at The Open Championship’s Last-Chance Qualifier.
“I’ve been in this position quite a few times, which has got to put me at ease,” he said. “I was at the last chance qualifier a few weeks ago and at the time it was quite a bad experience, missing out by a shot.
“But I think having been there, you’ve played in front of hundreds of people, this situation is difficult but all things considered it’s quite a lot easier. That experience, although bad at the time, is great for days like tomorrow.
“I think it’s more of the same tomorrow. I said to my caddy we can’t think too far ahead, I’ll take it one shot at a time and see where we end up. I think that will give me the best chance and if it’s not enough, so be it.”
In a share of third sits Spain’s Santiago Tarrio, Denmark’s Victor Sidal Svendsen, and the German duo Michael Hirmer and Jannik De Bruyn at twelve under par. Belgium’s James Meyer De Beco, Italy’s Matteo Cristoni and England’s Barclay Brown sit one stroke further back at eleven under.
The final round of the Infortar Estonian Challenge starts on Sunday at 07:20am local time, with Wilson teeing off at 11:46am alongside Franssen and Tarrio.
