Lucas Bjerregaard of Denmark yesterday fired a seven-under-par 65 to join Felipe Aguilar of Chile atop the China Open leaderboard after the third round.
Bjerregaard started strong with an eagle on the par-four third before adding five birdies.
“I played nicely today and got things going a little bit on three there, holed a six iron from 160m, but other than that the front nine was pretty quiet,” Bjerregaard was quoted as saying on the European Tour Web site.
Photo: AFP / ONEASIA / PAUL LAKATOS
“I hit some good shots on the back nine and [was] making some putts as well, then I thinned my chip shot over the green on 17 and then made the putt from there, so all in all a very good day,” he said. “I had a couple of good runs at the end of last year so I’ll try and use all the experience I got there and try and go out and finish it off tomorrow.”
Aguilar carded a 67 for a total of 16-under 200, and a two-shot lead over four others.
The European Tour Web site also quoted Aguilar as saying that his putting has been key this week.
Photo: AFP / ONEASIA / PAUL LAKATOS
“My putting is my weakest part of my golf game,” he said. “It’s been very poor for the last six months and I switched putter this week and that was thanks to Fabrizio Zanotti.
“I went in his bag and took his putter. He was kind enough to let me use it and I think that’s been the biggest difference, that I’ve made some putts that I really needed to make.
“You have so many players out here who can shoot a low score and tomorrow somebody who wins is going to have to shoot a low score,” Aguilar said. “Hopefully it will be me.”
Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts matched the low round of the day with a 65, and was tied for third at 14-under with local favorite Li Haotong (66), England’s Tyrrell Hatton (67), and Alex Noren of Sweden (68).
A win for Bjerregaard would be his first on the European Tour.
Aguilar, who led after the second-round, birdied the par-five 18th for a third straight day to get back to the top of the leaderboard.
Taiwan’s Lee Chieh-po fared poorly in the third round, dropping 42 rungs down the leaderboard after carding a three-over-par 75. That left him in a six-way tie for 56th with a competition total of four-under 212.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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