Gallacher gives himself a chance
Stephen Gallacher © Getty Images
Darren Clarke showed signs of life with a 67 but as Hennie Otto took a two stroke lead into the final round of the 71st Open d’Italia, Stephen Gallacher’s bid to steal the last available qualifying place on Europe’s Ryder Cup team looks likely to go to the wire.
Clarke moved 37 spots up the leaderboard to tied 20th on seven under as he dropped just one shot in a six birdie round.
But as Gareth Maybin shot 74 to slip to 62nd on two under and Damien McGrane posted a 73 for a share of 69th on one under, Otto battled a back niggle to card a 71 and move two clear of Scotland’s Richie Ramsay on 16 under.
Gallacher needs to win or finish second (alongside no more than one other player) to take the last of available spots on Paul McGinley’s European Team and he is just four shots behind Ramsay with 18 holes of the qualification campaign to go before McGinley completes his 12-man team with three captain's picks next Tuesday.
Gallacher cared a three under 69 to move to ten under and will have to get past Bernd Wiesberger (-13), Ross Fisher and Lee Slattery (both-11) if he is to turn his Ryder Cup dream into reality.
Add to that the fact that potential wildcards Francesco Molinari (69) and Joost Luiten (70 are tied for seventh on nine under and it's not at all clear what McGinley will do.
Gallacher was pleased to go into the final round with his chances intact, which is all he could have wished for at the start of the week.
“It keeps me in touching distance," the Scot said. "The worst thing I could have done was open up a big gap which was insurmountable. I’ve not done that so a good day tomorrow and I am still right in there.
“I am lying sixth going into the last round – six behind first and four behind second – so it’s all to play for. You never know what happens in this game. I just need to go out and try and get as many birdies as possible and see what happens.
"It’s a tough week obviously. I have done my day job and done it well but it is a long week and will take a lot out of me mentally but I have two weeks off and one round to go so will give it my best shot.
“This is the only time in my career that I would be happy not to win a golf tournament. Second will do me fine tomorrow.”
Ramsay certainly believes that Gallacher would be a good fit for Europe.
“I know Stevie well," he said. "I spend a lot of time at Kingsfield where he practices. It’s a big ask this week but he has shown over the past 12 months how good a player he is.
"I think if he didn’t qualify he would still be an asset to the team. Not just for his ball striking and general play, but his attitude and the kind of guy means he would bring a lot to the team.
"His record at Gleneagles is impressive too. I would hate to be the person that denies him but I think if Stevie was in my position he would play to win and that is the attitude I have to take into tomorrow.”
Otto is going for his second win in the event and after undergoing two back operations, he did not give too much importance to his back niggles.
He said: “It was a rough day to be honest. My back started to tighten after eight holes but I managed to get it round even though I couldn’t swing it properly.
"I got a little lucky at time as well but you need that in this game if you are going to win a tournament.
“I don’t have a lot of pain it is just tightness more than anything. It’s uncomfortable but not painful enough to stop me playing.
"I’m not really worried about it – I was in serious pain before the operations but this is nothing like that and I can get it fixed with some stretching and physio just now.
“It’s nice to be up there. I haven’t been up there for a while but I am hitting a lot of good shots and I will just focus on that.”
Complete third round scores:
200 H Otto (RSA) 67 62 71;
202 R Ramsay (Sco) 67 69 66;
203 B Wiesberger (Aut) 66 66 71;
205 L Slattery (Eng) 70 68 67; R Fisher (Eng) 69 66 70;
206 S Gallacher (Sco) 72 65 69;
207 F Molinari (Ita) 66 72 69; J Luiten (Ned) 69 68 70; D Howell (Eng) 73 67 67; S Chowrasia (Ind) 69 72 66;
208 M Korhonen (Fin) 70 67 71; C Del Moral (Esp) 70 68 70; R Wattel (Fra) 73 68 67; M Warren (Sco) 69 70 69; R Gonzalez (Arg) 74 66 68; A Sullivan (Eng) 70 72 66; S Dyson (Eng) 71 68 69; D Fichardt (RSA) 68 69 71; J Morrison (Eng) 70 66 72;
209 M Bremner (RSA) 71 68 70; S Hansen (Den) 71 66 72; A Hartø (Den) 70 69 70; D Clarke (Nir) 72 70 67; A Levy (Fra) 73 68 68; R Bland (Eng) 67 71 71; D Huizing (Ned) 69 71 69; T Fleetwood (Eng) 72 70 67; M Madsen (Den) 68 68 73; F Laporta (Ita) 68 72 69; D Lipsky (USA) 69 67 73; S Benson (Eng) 70 67 72; E Lipparelli (am) (Ita) 68 70 71;
210 S Kapur (Ind) 73 69 68; A Gee (Eng) 72 70 68; E Goya (Arg) 71 70 69; A Quiros (Esp) 70 72 68; A Wall (Eng) 71 70 69; C Lee (Sco) 70 72 68; S Walker (Eng) 70 72 68;
211 M Siem (Ger) 73 68 70; E Molinari (Ita) 71 69 71; P Whiteford (Sco) 73 67 71; R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 73 63 75; J Heath (Eng) 73 68 70; S Kim (Kor) 70 72 69; F Andersson Hed (Swe) 74 67 70;
212 D Im (USA) 71 71 70; J Hansen (Den) 69 71 72; D Horsey (Eng) 71 69 72; L Bjerregaard (Den) 74 68 70; R Kakko (Fin) 69 72 71; W Ormsby (Aus) 74 68 70; R Rock (Eng) 69 70 73; A Saddier (Fra) 70 70 72;
213 F Bergamaschi (Ita) 72 69 72; F Aguilar (Chi) 68 69 76; A Tadini (Ita) 72 69 72; T Lewis (Eng) 71 69 73; M Manassero (Ita) 73 69 71; D Drysdale (Sco) 73 69 71; K Broberg (Swe) 73 68 72;
214 G Maybin (Nir) 67 73 74; N Elvira (Esp) 75 67 72; M Carlsson (Swe) 72 70 72; G Molteni (Ita) 70 70 74; M Kieffer (Ger) 68 70 76; J Knutzon (USA) 70 70 74; B Rusch (am) (Sui) 73 66 75;
215 D McGrane (Irl) 71 71 73; J Campillo (Esp) 71 71 73; E De La Riva (Esp) 72 70 73;
216 G Porteous (Eng) 71 71 74; O Fisher (Eng) 74 67 75; J Hahn (USA) 67 73 76;
217 T Pieters (Bel) 70 68 79;
