A stupendous round of 68 – the lowest of the week – on the third day of the De Vere Collection PGA Seniors Championship put England’s Gordon J Brand in sight of his fourth Seniors Tour title.
 
A putting tip from his wife paid rich dividends for the former Ryder Cup player, who posted four birdies in five holes in a sensational burst of scoring on the back nine at De Vere Slaley Hall, Northumbria, England.
 
The 53 year old credited wife Lyn – herself a former professional golfer – with his success on the greens, which catapulted him to the top of the leaderboard on one over par, two shots clear of Spain’s Domingo Hospital.
 
Brand said: “I worked on a few things with my wife before I went out to play, because she reckons she can putt. She keeps threatening to throw my putter away, but I’ve managed to hang on to it. She was a pro for two years, so I guess I can’t ignore her.
 
“I putted well today. I did have one three putt, but I made up for it by holing plenty – especially on the back nine. So I’m a lot happier. I even managed a few single putts in a row. Anyone can get one in, but if you get two or three in succession, your brain believes you can get some more. Everyone is finding it hard to get the pace of the greens, because they are quite fast.”
 
Brand leads by two shots from Hospital, who had briefly grabbed the clubhouse lead after shooting a two under par 70.
 
Hospital said: “It was a super round – nearly everything went right, and there are some tough holes out there. I made bogey on nine, which is almost like a par, but the rest of my round was good.”
 
One shot further back in a tie for third on four over par are joint overnight leaders Ross Drummond of Scotland and Spain’s Juan Quiros – who both shot rounds of 76 – and England’s Andrew Murray.

217 G Brand (Eng) 72 77 68;
219 D Hospital (Esp) 74 75 70;
220 A Murray (Eng) 73 76 71; J Quiros (Esp) 73 71 76; R Drummond (Sco) 71 73 76;
221 T Johnstone (Zim) 75 75 71; C Rocca (Ita) 75 73 73; J Chillas (Sco) 75 74 72; G Cali (Ita) 71 76 74;
222 E Darcy (Irl) 74 74 74; C Mason (Eng) 77 73 72; G Brand Jnr (Sco) 73 75 74;
223 S Ebihara (Jpn) 74 77 72;
224 B Cameron (Eng) 73 76 75; K Tomori (Jpn) 74 76 74; B Longmuir (Sco) 72 76 76;
225 L Carbonetti (Arg) 73 76 76; M Foster (Eng) 73 76 76; G Encina (Chi) 79 73 73; B McColl (Sco) 72 76 77;
226 P Harrison (Eng) 77 75 74; S Torrance (Sco) 76 75 75; I Palmer (RSA) 77 75 74; I Woosnam (Wal) 79 76 71; D Good (Aus) 74 74 78; T Giedeon (Ger) 74 77 75; J Rivero (Esp) 75 76 75;
227 D O'Sullivan (Irl) 73 74 80; A Franco (Par) 78 76 73; K Spurgeon (Eng) 77 75 75; N Ratcliffe (Aus) 76 77 74; J Rhodes (Eng) 74 78 75;
228 M Poxon (Eng) 75 78 75; B Lincoln (RSA) 74 81 73; N Job (Eng) 76 71 81;
229 B Larratt (Eng) 78 73 78; J Benda (USA) 77 78 74; M Gray (Sco) 78 73 78; A Fernandez (Chi) 76 79 74; T Allen (Eng) 75 75 79; G Watine (Fra) 77 78 74;
230 P Oakley (USA) 80 74 76; D Russell (Eng) 80 76 74; J Bland (RSA) 75 80 75; D Merriman (Aus) 74 79 77; M Bembridge (Eng) 73 80 77; G Banister (Aus) 77 74 79;
231 P Mitchell (Eng) 73 79 79; H Carbonetti (Arg) 77 78 76; D Stirling (Eng) 76 78 77; R Green (Eng) 75 78 78; D Cambridge (Jam) 73 81 77;
232 S Ginn (Aus) 78 78 76; J Cañizares (Esp) 76 78 78;
233 P Hinton (Eng) 79 77 77;
234 M Galway (Eng) 77 79 78; A Sowa (Arg) 80 76 78;
235 S Martin (Sco) 77 77 81;
236 M Piñero (Esp) 79 77 80;
238 M Gallagher (Eng) 76 77 85;
239 P Seal (Eng) 80 76 83;

(Missed cut)
157 P Dugeny (Fra) 75 82 0;
158 M White (Sco) 79 79 0; B Heuchan (Can) 79 79 0; J Bruner (USA) 80 78 0; A Barrera (Arg) 75 83 0; J Hall (Eng) 78 80 0; M Morbey (Eng) 84 74 0;
159 R Masters (Eng) 81 78 0; J Heggarty (Nir) 77 82 0; G Townhill (Eng) 75 84 0; B Boyd (USA) 75 84 0; E Rodriguez (Esp) 82 77 0; V Garcia (Esp) 81 78 0;
160 G Harvey (Sco) 79 81 0; J Lower (Eng) 79 81 0;
161 S Owen (Nzl) 83 78 0; G Krause (Eng) 81 80 0; P Brostedt (Swe) 79 82 0; I Mosey (Eng) 79 82 0; F Hill (Eng) 77 84 0; E Polland (Nir) 82 79 0; B Smit (RSA) 78 83 0; E Alessandrini (Ita) 78 83 0; S Harrison (Eng) 82 79 0;
162 M Briggs (Eng) 81 81 0; T Rastall (Eng) 81 81 0; T Gale (Aus) 85 77 0; T Price (Wal) 81 81 0;
163 M Kierstenson (Eng) 85 78 0; T Horton (Eng) 79 84 0; G Burroughs (Eng) 82 81 0; R Mann (Eng) 84 79 0; J Hoskison (Eng) 81 82 0;
164 J Lapsley  (Nzl) 82 82 0; G Levenson (RSA) 81 83 0; R Webster (Sco) 82 82 0; S Rooke (Eng) 86 78 0;
165 K Jones (Wal) 83 82 0;
166 M Patchett (Eng) 82 84 0;
167 K Stevely (Sco) 84 83 0; D Russell (Eng) 78 89 0; S Rolley (Eng) 83 84 0; K Phillips (Sco) 86 81 0; S Graham  (Eng) 80 87 0; G Tickell (Wal) 82 85 0;
168 T Charnley (Eng) 83 85 0; P O'Boyle (Irl) 92 76 0; M McLean (Eng) 87 81 0;
169 M Steadman (Eng) 83 86 0; G Gray (Sco) 86 83 0;
170 A Garrido (Esp) 87 83 0; P Laugher (Eng) 83 87 0;
172 R Johnson (Eng) 88 84 0; A Bownes (Eng) 85 87 0; J Mashego (RSA) 86 86 0;
173 P Kerr  (Sco) 85 88 0;
175 P Barlow (Eng) 88 87 0;
190 R Waugh (Eng) 85 DISQ 0; M Miller (Sco) 81 RETD 0;