Olesen takes three-shot lead into Dunhill Links Championship

Phil Casey 06:51 04/10/2015
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  • Finding the missing links: Thorbjorn Olesen.

    Thorbjorn Olesen took command of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on Saturday, and impressed Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke into the bargain, with a superb third round at St Andrews.

    Playing alongside European skipper Clarke, Olesen carded eight birdies and one bogey on the Old Course to shoot 65 and finish 17 under par, three shots ahead of Germany’s  Florian Fritsch, with France’s  Benjamin Hebert another shot back.

    Olsen said: “It’s great. I was close once before, finishing second in this tournament. I know this golf course pretty well and I know how it is to be up there  in this tournament so hopefully tomorrow I can go out there and find a few birdies and see if I can get over the line.”

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    Olesen, who bogeyed the first hole but birdied four of the next seven and four of his last five, discovered a tendon problem in his left hand over the winter but battled on for four events – missing the cut in the last three – before undergoing surgery after his last appearance in Malaysia at the start of February.

    The 25-year-old lost a play-off to George Coetzee in Mauritius in his first tournament back but has made the cut in just three of his 13 strokeplay events since.

    He is a lowly 124th in the Race to Dubai, with just the top 110 retaining their cards at the end of the season, but a third European Tour title would solve all his problems.

    Fritsch is just below Olesen on the Race to Dubai and admitted that influenced his play before storming home in 30 to record a flawless 64 at Kingsbarns, playing his last seven holes in six under.

    He said: “Definitely at the beginning I was probably a bit more worried about maybe making the cut because this is a very big tournament, especially for me with the money that can be won and the position that I’m in.

    "A couple of choices were made due to that situation over what I would probably usually do but that’s what tournament golf does to you at times.”

    Sweden’s  Joakim Lagergren carded a 62, the lowest round of the day, at Kingsbarns to finish 12 under alongside Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Bradley Dredge and Chris Stroud, with four-time major winner Ernie Els part of a six-strong group on 11 under.

    Els carded a 66 at St Andrews and was able to laugh about suffering an attack of the dreaded ‘yips’ over a short putt in his opening 72 at Carnoustie on Thursday.

    He said: “I knew what it felt like and it was a thing of disaster, so I went to my other putter, a shorter putter where all the weight is in the head and I feel I can get the putter head through to the ball easier. The other one just didn’t want to move past the ball.”

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