Adri Arnaus (-1) has been the main figure of Spanish golf on the third day of the Irish Challenge taking place at the spectacular Killeen Castle course. He has been both for better and for worse.
He, and only he, had crafted a more than interesting chance of victory in the first eleven sensational holes this Saturday. He started with a birdie on the 2nd, an eagle on the 7th, the second consecutive on that hole this week, and two more birdies on the 9th and 11th. The conditions were not easy at all on this course, which bears the signature of Jack Nicklaus, and his four-under-par score (a bogey had fallen on the 4th) was outstanding.
The golfer from Moià held up very well over the next four holes with pars. Perhaps the only downside is that he wasn’t able to make at least one birdie on the two par 5s in this stretch (12 and 15), especially the second, which was more accessible. Thus, fully involved in the fight for victory, looking directly at the lead, Arnaus faced the last three holes. It was time to finish the day, but it ended up being a disastrous hour of golf. The downside.
Adri made a double bogey on the 16th, a bogey on the 17th, and a double bogey on the 18th. A fatal sequence that relegated him to 25th place and left him without chances of victory. Very tough and very cruel. He is tied there with Lucas Vacarisas (-1), the two best Spaniards in the tournament with one round to go. Arnaus knows there is no time in the HotelPlanner Tour to lick his wounds. It’s time to get up, as he always has, and try to sign a good Sunday round that allows him to keep climbing in the Road to Mallorca.
Before Arnaus, Álvaro Quirós (+4), the best Spanish hope after the second round, fell. The golfer from Guadiaro had a disastrous day in Ireland. He started with a bogey on the 1st and a double bogey on the 4th, and he was trailing all day. A double bogey on the 15th, a par 5, put the final nail in the coffin on a day to forget. He shot 79. The goal should be to finish as well as possible and prove to himself that his game is in a sweet spot, beyond what might have happened on a bad day of golf, like so many others.
As for the rest of the Spaniards who made the cut, none have been able to play under par today. Luis Masaveu (+1) shot 74, the same as Javier Calles (+2) and Borja Virto (+3). Finally, Rocco Repetto (+5) shot 76.
Regarding the lead, Jeppe Kristian Andersen (-12) is the standout leader after delivering a fabulous scorecard on the moving day of 65, the best of the day. The Danish golfer has a three-shot lead over the second-placed player and could turn his career around 180 degrees with a win, considering he doesn’t even have full rights to the HotelPlanner Tour this season. He needs a win desperately not only to dream of the DP World Tour card but to stay in the second division for another year.
Three shots behind Andersen is the Frenchman Oihan Guillamoundeguy (-9) and four shots behind is the Swiss Ronan Kleu (-8). In principle, the victory should be among these three players, as the fourth place is already at -6, six shots off the lead. However, if any of them score like Andersen did today, anything can happen in Ireland.
