Caldwell six back as Wallace leads Scottish Championship by three
ST ANDREWS, SCOTLAND - OCTOBER 17: Matt Wallace of England plays his shot off the 2nd tee during Day Three of the Scottish Championship presented by AXA at Fairmont St Andrews on October 17, 2020 in St Andrews, Scotland. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)
Jonathan Caldwell has a chance to record his career-best finish on the European Tour after carding a bogey-free 68 to move up to tied fifth in the Scottish Championship presented by AXA at Fairmont St Andrews.
The Clandeboye professional (36) goes into the final round six strokes behind Matt Wallace on 12-under par and he’s looking forward to the challenge after a bogey-free third round.
“I scrambled out there pretty good today and holed some nice putts that I have been doing all week,” said Caldwell, who will go out in the penultimate group with Eddie Pepperell and American Sean Crocker.
“I didn’t play quite as well as yesterday but then the conditions were a lot harder today with a lot of crosswinds so I needed to scramble a little bit and was pleased that I managed to get up-and-down a few times.”
Caldwell clinched his best European Tour finish in July when he tied for eighth in the British Masters.
But he appears to enjoy the Torrance Course at Fairmont St Andrew.
“I have fond memories playing here for the Open qualifier here last year as I putted really well for the 36-holes,” he said.
“The golf course is soft but then if you hit it in the fairways, that are a little wider, then you have a lot of good chances for birdies while if your short game is sharp enough and with the greens so good, you are going to make your four and five footers.
“So, I’ve enjoyed the test so far and looking forward to tomorrow.”
Wallace carded a brilliant bogey-free round of 66 to open up a three-shot lead as he chases a fifth European Tour title and his first since the 2018 Made in Denmark,
He edged closer to that target after recording an eagle and four birdies—including two in his last two holes—to get to 18-under par, three ahead of nearest challenger and countryman Garrick Porteous.
Porteous also signed for a round of 66 at Fairmont St Andrews as he sets his sight on a first European Tour title, after earning his card for the 2020 season at Qualifying School.
Spaniard Adrian Otaegui had a share of the overnight lead with Wallace and he sits in third place at 14 under par after a 70.
Crocker, Pepperell and Caldwell share fifth with Chris Paisley on 12-under but Pádraig Harrington did not drive the ball or hit his irons as well as he did on the first two days and slipped back to tied 16th on eight-under after a 73.
The European Ryder Cup captain started the day four strokes off the lead but after following a bogey at the second with birdies at the third and sixth, he holed a 45 footer from just off the green for an eagle two at the seventh to get within two strokes of the lead.
A sloppy bogey at the ninth, where he opted to take the putter from a few yards off the green but knocked his putt eight feet past and then lipped out for par, proved a momentum stopper.
He then dropped another shot at the par-three 11th before running up an expensive double-bogey five at the 17th, where he had to hit a second ball from the tee, in a homeward nine of three-over 39.
Wallace came home in 33 for his 66, holing a bunker shot for a two at the 17th before getting up and down at the last for his birdie four after hitting two drivers to within 20 yards of the green.
"I enjoyed it a lot,” Wallace said. “Especially at the end there to finish the way I did was really nice. It's probably the best I've ever handled myself. I missed a few putts early on, I didn't really get much going. I holed a nice one on four and then a good two on that short driveable hole but then nothing really happened. Sometimes I felt like I wanted to push on but I stayed really patient and it showed there by the end.
"It's very simple when you're just thinking about the process. I'm just going to go and have a nice bath, warm up, have some food and then get ready for tomorrow. Do the same things I've been doing practice-wise. Find out where the wind is because the wind could be different, come up with a game plan, and then process and execute."
Scottish Championship presented by AXA, Fairmont St Andrews, St Andrews, Scotland
198 M Wallace (Eng) 65 67 66,
201 G Porteous (Eng) 66 69 66,
202 A Otaegui (Esp) 62 70 70,
203 S Crocker (USA) 70 66 67,
204 Jonathan Caldwell (Nir) 70 66 68, C Paisley (Eng) 66 71 67, E Pepperell (Eng) 68 70 66,
205 A Rai (Eng) 66 67 72, A Saddier (Fra) 67 67 71,
206 P Waring (Eng) 68 67 71, M Simonsen (Den) 69 69 68,
207 B Stone (RSA) 67 70 70, M Southgate (Eng) 69 68 70, M Jordan (Eng) 71 68 68, B Stow (Eng) 70 70 67,
208 Pádraig Harrington (Irl) 66 69 73, M Warren (Sco) 67 69 72, M Armitage (Eng) 70 68 70, C Hill (Sco) 70 72 66,
209 B Easton (RSA) 65 72 72, L Westwood (Eng) 67 70 72, A Wu (Chn) 67 71 71, C Syme (Sco) 70 70 69, J Donaldson (Wal) 70 70 69,
210 E Ferguson (Sco) 67 72 71, G Fdez-castano (Esp) 67 73 70, S Soderberg (Swe) 72 68 70, O Farr (Wal) 73 67 70, J Morrison (Eng) 72 69 69, M Baldwin (Eng) 70 72 68, R Ramsay (Sco) 74 68 68,
211 K Reitan (Nor) 73 64 74, A Levy (Fra) 70 71 70, S Horsfield (Eng) 74 69 68,
212 D Coupland (Eng) 68 69 75, A Meronk (Pol) 68 70 74, C Howie (Sco) 70 68 74, J Harding (RSA) 75 64 73, P Figueiredo (Por) 70 70 72, D Law (Sco) 73 67 72, L Van Meijel (Ned) 72 70 70, A Chesters (Eng) 72 70 70,
213 D Gavins (Eng) 70 68 75, D Drysdale (Sco) 69 71 73, W Besseling (Ned) 71 69 73, P Eriksson (Swe) 73 67 73, D Van Driel (Ned) 72 69 72, S Jamieson (Sco) 67 75 71, J Stalter (Fra) 70 72 71, S Sharma (Ind) 71 72 70,
214 S Chawrasia (Ind) 69 69 76, J Walters (RSA) 71 69 74, R Paratore (Ita) 68 73 73, Z Murray (Aus) 69 73 72, R Petersson (Swe) 71 71 72, B Poke (Den) 71 71 72,
215 D Perrier (Fra) 70 70 75, O Wilson (Eng) 72 68 75, H Long (Ger) 69 73 73,
216 G Havret (Fra) 69 70 77, B Evans (Eng) 69 72 75, R Santos (Por) 71 71 74, L Scalise (Ita) 71 71 74, S Tiley (Eng) 69 74 73, T Gandy (Imn) 70 73 73, J Fahrbring (Swe) 72 71 73, M Schneider (Ger) 73 70 73,
219 D Young (Sco) 72 71 76,
220 J Sjöholm (Swe) 72 71 77,
