Lukas Nemecz retained the lead of The European Tour’s Qualifying School Final Stage but was joined at the top of the leaderboard on 14 under par by teenager Marcus Kinhult at the halfway point of this six round marathon.
With the top half of the field playing the less challenging Tour Course at PGA Catalunya Resort – a European Tour Destination – the leading players took advantage of perfect scoring conditions in the third round, with 84 players now at par or better for the week.
Austrian Nemecz made an early move, four birdies in his first seven holes stretching his lead before a double-bogey on the 18th hole, his ninth, brought him back in range of the chasing pack.
The 26 year old found two more birdies coming home to shoot a four under par round of 66 but he admitted he is surprised by his lofty position in Girona.
“I’m very happy, I couldn’t have expected that,” he said. “I didn’t play very well this season but I know that I’m playing very well now so it makes it fun. I’m enjoying playing, and it’s really good to be there right now.
“I always used to have a good long game and was struggling with that a bit this year, so I had to do some technical things this summer which is not great to have to do in the middle of the season. It looks like it’s starting to pay off now though.
“Tomorrow will definitely be more difficult but I don’t think that the Tour Course is that easy, you still have to make a lot of good shots and I like the course. I hit two bad shots today and went out of bounds but the rest was really good.
“It’s nice to be leading now but there are still three more rounds and there is so far to go that I don’t really even think about it. You have to think about playing under par and then see what happens after 108 holes.
“Our coach has rented a house so there are eight of us there and it’s great fun, doing some cooking and talking, so it’s good to get off the golf course and have fun.I It’s very important to be able to do that to save energy over all these days – we’ve played three rounds but there are still three more to go so it will definitely be challenging.”
His playing partner Kinhult – still an amateur – was also pleased with his bogey-free third round of 65 that has put him in a strong position with 54 holes still to play.
“It was good today,” said the 19 year old Swede. “I struck it pretty good today tee to green and didn’t miss many greens so it was really solid. I left a few out there on the greens, missed a few putts, but I’m happy with a good score.
“It would mean a lot to get a European Tour card, obviously, but we’re only halfway through so it’s a long way to go, but it’s a good start and it’s going to be three nice rounds on the Stadium Course, hopefully, and I’m looking forward to it.
“I try not to change my mindset. I just need to stick to the gameplan, hit fairways and greens and hopefully make a few putts.”
One shot behind the leading duo are Spaniard Adrian Otaegui, who had the low round of the day with an eight under par 62, and England’s Chris Hanson, with Hanson’s compatriot Gary King one shot further back alongside Australian Nick Cullen.
Frenchman Clément Sordet briefly raised hopes of a round of 59 or better when he went out in just 28 strokes but faltered slightly coming in to shoot a six under par 64 and sit alongside American Jason Knutzon on 11 under par.
Of the players on the Stadium Course, traditionally seen as slightly tougher than the Tour Course, it was Scotland’s Peter Whiteford who caught the eye, a five under par round of 67 taking him to three under par overall.
Tomorrow the field swaps courses for the fourth round, after which a cut will see the top 70 and ties make it through to battle it out for two more rounds on the Stadium Course.
At the end of the six rounds the top 25 players and ties will earn places on The European Tour for next season.
Scores after round 3:
198 L Nemecz (Aut) 67 65 66; M Kinhult (am) (Swe) 66 67 65;
199 A Otaegui (Esp) 74 63 62; C Hanson (Eng) 70 63 66;
200 G King (Eng) 64 72 64; N Cullen (Aus) 61 73 66;
201 C Sordet (Fra) 71 66 64; J Knutzon (USA) 67 68 66;
202 D Papadatos (Aus) 67 70 65; R McGowan (Eng) 69 69 64; U Van Den Berg (RSA) 72 64 66; D Gavins (Eng) 71 65 66; M Palmer (RSA) 63 71 68;
203 F Fritsch (Ger) 68 69 66; J Hugo (RSA) 65 71 67; K Ferrie (Eng) 70 69 64; D Im (USA) 70 68 65; C Berardo (Fra) 76 64 63; L Jensen (Den) 70 66 67; M Jonzon (Swe) 68 70 65; S Fernandez (am) (Esp) 64 72 67;
204 H Joannes (Bel) 66 70 68; F Laporta (Ita) 69 68 67; D Dixon (Eng) 72 68 64; L Canter (Eng) 67 69 68;
205 J Guerrier (Fra) 69 70 66; N Ravano (Ita) 75 65 65; R Finch (Eng) 69 66 70; E Goya (Arg) 73 63 69; P Shields (Sco) 67 70 68; J Robinson (Eng) 72 69 64; M Lafeber (Ned) 74 66 65; D McGrane (Irl) 71 68 66; N Bertasio (Ita) 71 68 66;
206 M Pavon (Fra) 67 68 71; M Foster (Eng) 71 68 67; D Huizing (Ned) 68 72 66; M Southgate (Eng) 72 66 68;
207 J Sarasti (Esp) 69 68 70; J Sjöholm (Swe) 72 67 68; D Law (Sco) 67 72 68; K Samooja (Fin) 66 74 67; F Bergamaschi (Ita) 67 65 75; J Scrivener (Aus) 65 72 70; W Besseling (Ned) 68 71 68; C Costilla (Arg) 68 71 68; D Lloyd (RSA) 64 74 69;
208 M Brown (Nzl) 69 72 67; A Hartø (Den) 72 68 68; P Howard (Eng) 73 67 68; M Delpodio (Ita) 72 67 69; S Hansen (Den) 67 74 67; J Dantorp (Swe) 66 71 71; K Phelan (Irl) 70 72 66;
209 R Johnson (Swe) 71 70 68; R McEvoy (Eng) 66 74 69; A Karlsson (Swe) 67 73 69; S Manley (Wal) 66 74 69; P Dunne (Irl) 71 68 70; G Green (Mas) 69 70 70; R Evans (Eng) 67 72 70;
210 S Arnold (Aus) 70 71 69; S Henry (Sco) 71 69 70; D Burmester (RSA) 74 67 69; T Murray (Eng) 69 72 69; J Walters (RSA) 68 73 69; R Kellett (Sco) 75 65 70;
211 P Whiteford (Sco) 74 70 67; D Gaunt (Aus) 68 74 69; H Porteous (RSA) 65 72 74; S Thornton (Irl) 71 67 73;
212 M Crespi (Ita) 74 67 71; F Mruzek (Cze) 68 71 73; R Santos (Por) 75 63 74; F Andersson Hed (Swe) 73 68 71; P Oriol (Esp) 70 73 69; O Henningsson (Swe) 73 67 72;
213 D Foos (Ger) 74 70 69; T Gornik (Slo) 68 72 73; J Loughrey (Eng) 72 72 69; J Lara (Esp) 71 71 71; C Koerbler (Aut) 73 69 71; O Stark (Swe) 77 65 71;
214 E Molinari (Ita) 66 77 71; J Hahn (USA) 71 74 69; J Sandelin (Swe) 71 71 72; L Gagli (Ita) 71 71 72; R Coles (Eng) 72 68 74;
215 C Ford (Eng) 71 71 73; J White (Eng) 68 74 73; C Del Moral (Esp) 74 69 72; S Brown (Eng) 73 71 71; D Bransdon (Aus) 72 71 72;
216 P Angles (Esp) 63 80 73; J Lima (Por) 74 70 72; J Senior (Eng) 74 68 74; R Fox (Nzl) 68 77 71; A Tadini (Ita) 73 71 72; P Widegren (Swe) 71 73 72; P Hedblom (Swe) 69 74 73; S Soderberg (Swe) 74 69 73; A Chesters (Eng) 73 69 74; M Nixon (Eng) 72 76 68; R Roussel (am) (Fra) 70 72 74;
217 B Pettersson (Swe) 73 72 72; R Saxton (Ned) 74 72 71; D Kataoka (Jpn) 76 68 73; P Mejow (Ger) 74 69 74; D Van Tonder (RSA) 72 70 75; G Axell (Swe) 74 68 75; J Doherty (Sco) 69 73 75;
218 B Neil (Sco) 73 69 76; S Walker (Eng) 68 76 74; J Mullen (Eng) 74 69 75;
219 J Smith (Eng) 76 71 72; B Hafthorsson (Isl) 74 72 73; V Riu (Fra) 74 71 74; M Welch (USA) 75 73 71; B Ritthammer (Ger) 70 77 72; M Wallace (Eng) 71 76 72; R Gonzalez (Arg) 79 68 72; J Rutherford (Eng) 71 71 77;
220 B Casey (Irl) 76 69 75; A Wejshag (Swe) 71 75 74; J Huldahl (Den) 66 80 74; A Saddier (Fra) 73 71 76; C Pigem (Esp) 70 75 75; S Jeppesen (Swe) 78 71 71; J Wrisdale (Eng) 74 72 74; N Holman (Aus) 70 72 78; T Sinnott (Aus) 82 68 70;
221 M Orrin (Eng) 76 66 79; J Cafourek (Cze) 69 77 75; C Blomstrand (Swe) 75 73 73; J Higginbottom (Aus) 75 74 72;
222 M Laskey (Wal) 72 74 76; N Lemke (Swe) 76 70 76; M Lundberg (Swe) 75 68 79; M Søgaard (Den) 70 78 74; D Woltman (USA) 76 72 74;
223 D Vancsik (Arg) 70 77 76; E Kofstad (Nor) 67 78 78;
224 P Martin Benavides (Esp) 74 76 74; J Edfors (Swe) 76 69 79; K Eriksson (Swe) 68 83 73; R McGee (Irl) 64 87 73; M Wiegele (Aut) 69 75 80;
225 P Tarver-Jones (Eng) 74 75 76; J Lucquin (Fra) 72 77 76; G Murray (Sco) 76 70 79; N Dougherty (Eng) 76 74 75;
226 C Feldborg Nielsen (Swe) 72 78 76;
227 G Piris Mateu (Esp) 70 77 80; A Murdaca (Aus) 72 74 81;
232 E Cuartero Blanco (Esp) 74 80 78;
999 P Lawrie (Irl) 76 69 DQ
