After making solid ground on day two of the Eisenhower Trophy – The World Amateur Team Championships – at Tanah Merah Country Club in Singapore, Ireland slipped back down the leaderboard with only Stuart Grehan managing a round in red figures on day three.
With rounds of 73 and 68 on days one and two respectively, Grehan had been the leading Irish performer in each of the opening two rounds and made it three-for-three with a one-under 71 that featured three birdies and two bogeys.
Caolan Rafferty’s round began in horror-fashion with a triple bogey on the 10th but he regrouped to par the next 11 and traded three birdies with two bogeys over the closing six to card a two-over 74 that was one stroke better than John Doyle’s 75, leaving the Irish team’s tally on the day at +1 with the best two scores counting.
It means that the team slip down into a share of 19th on the 36-team leaderboard, while Grehan lies tied for 12th in the individual standings.
South African Christiaan Maas is in a league of his own, following back-to-back 66s in the opening two rounds by going one better and carding a seven-under 65 on day three to open a 10-stroke lead at the top of the individual leaderboard.
The current sixth-ranked player in the World Amateur Golf Rankings’ performance also sees his nation comfortably clear at the top of the team leaderboard on 26-under, nine clear of Australia and Mexico who share second at -15, with England (-12) and France (-11) rounding out the top five.
“Yeah, I suppose we’re happy where we are”, Maas said after completing his third round. “It’s not finished yet. Hopefully, we can extend our lead tomorrow.”
And he’s not going to be complacent with his 10-stroke lead in the individual standings and plans to attempt to push the gap even further.
“No, hopefully I can lead by 15 tomorrow”, he added.
FULL SCORING
