Coetzee moves in front as leaders falter in Vilamoura
George Coetzee. Picture: Getty Images
George Coetzee will go in search of a fifth European Tour win and his second in a row worldwide as he takes a one-shot lead into the final round of the 2020 Portugal Masters.
The South African, who won last week’s Titleist Championship on the Sunshine Tour, produced a remarkable eagle-birdie finish on day three to sign for an impressive 66 and move to 11 under par at Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course.
Coetzee, who won on the Sunshine Tour at Pretoria Country Club last week, had started the day eight strokes behind Julien Guerrier but the Frenchman's five-stroke overnight advantage turned into a one-shot deficit after he failed to make a single birdie in his four-over-par 75.
The 34-year-old reached the turn in 34 shots after sandwiching a bogey on the seventh between birdies at the fourth and eighth.
After taking advantage of the par-four 15th for the third day in a row, Coetzee came agonisingly close to holing his approach into the long 17th for an albatross but had to settle for a tap-in eagle to climb to ten under. And he finished off with a confident 12-foot birdie putt at the last to get to 11 under.
Niklas Lemke and Laurie Canter shared fourth place on nine under after firing rounds of 65 and 68 respectively while Clandeboye’s Jonny Caldwell carded a 75 to fall back to tied 63rd on level par.
Player Quotes
George Coetzee: “It was weird. Kind of felt like I was in a good space today and I didn’t really get going on the front nine, missed a couple of good opportunities on the back nine with the first couple of holes, but then when I started finally making them it was kind of smooth sailing from there. It was a bit of a grind but you just have to kind of hold on tight until you get a good opportunity.
“It would have been nice. I was actually watching earlier on in the week, the top ten shots they have had at this event and I didn’t think anything of it until I saw that ball rolling and I thought ”Ah, this could be number one!’” but in the end really happy where it finished. I was fortunate enough to be right next to Laurie (Canter) and he hit six-iron rather smooth, so it made it an easy decision for me to lift the seven iron and it ended up being the perfect club.
“Since the first time I have come here I have always enjoyed playing it. I guess the strategy is quite simple, you don’t have to overthink the golf course, you just have to play it the way it is designed. I have had my fair share of good luck on this golf course, I don’t think it owes me anything.”
Julien Guerrier: “It was difficult for me, it’s like that but not the end of the world. It was breezy but I had a few bad lies. On four I was close from the fairway, maybe one metre away, but it was tough to go on the green and my iron game was not perfect. I was maybe too safe, a little out of position, and then after you are trying to force but you don’t have the game, you are not having a good day, but you try your best. I will go now to practice and try to find a positive way. I am just one behind.”
Laurie Canter: “I think I am in fourth or fifth spot, so looks like maybe three or four back from the lead, so I am happy with that overall.
“The task is still kind of the same out there, just because the way the rough is, there is such a premium on getting your ball into the fairway. I felt like I played better today than I did on Thursday but didn’t quite get as much as I did out of today. If you keep doing that around here, the great thing about how it is playing is that you are being rewarded for it, so I just hope I can knock in a few more putts tomorrow.
“I think the front nine you just need to play what is in front of you. It gives up a couple of chances, so really if you can get yourself in a position on the back nine, you have legitimately got some good chances, you saw how George finished today, you can finish with a run of threes and kind of come from nowhere. So hopefully I can get myself in with a shot, you know back nine on Sunday, and see how we go.
“Hopefully I am going to have a few opportunities. I think every time you are up there you learn a little bit more, I have had a couple of opportunities in the swing which went alright, so hopefully just do the same thing tomorrow and play what is in front of me and we will see how we go.”
Portugal Masters, Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course, Vilamoura, Portugal (Par 71)
202 G Coetzee (RSA) 66 70 66,
203 J Guerrier (Fra) 62 66 75, M Kawamura (Jpn) 67 71 65,
204 L Canter (Eng) 64 72 68, N Lemke (Swe) 70 69 65,
205 S Kim (USA) 67 66 72, L Johnston (Sco) 61 74 70, S Garcia Rodriguez (Esp) 70 68 67,
206 L Bjerregaard (Den) 67 71 68, J Lagergren (Swe) 69 69 68, J Catlin (USA) 72 69 65,
207 A Meronk (Pol) 69 66 72, S Vincent (Zim) 70 65 72, P Waring (Eng) 67 69 71, B Stone (RSA) 67 70 70, J Veerman (USA) 69 68 70, J Scrivener (Aus) 69 68 70, T Fleetwood (Eng) 68 71 68, D Whitnell (Eng) 67 74 66,
208 A Saddier (Fra) 67 68 73, M Simonsen (Den) 68 67 73, M Armitage (Eng) 68 67 73, A Rozner (Fra) 68 67 73, W Nienaber (RSA) 70 65 73, G Porteous (Eng) 70 69 69, G Forrest (Sco) 72 67 69, B Easton (RSA) 68 72 68, B Evans (Eng) 69 71 68, A Bjork (Swe) 70 70 68, W Besseling (Ned) 70 70 68, G Fdez-Castaño (Esp) 71 69 68, B Stow (Eng) 72 69 67,
209 M Jordan (Eng) 66 69 74, F Laporta (Ita) 67 70 72, T Gandy (Imn) 69 68 72, J Campillo (Esp) 68 71 70, R Karlberg (Swe) 72 67 70, M Schmitt (Ger) 70 71 68, A Quiros (Esp) 73 68 68,
210 N Bertasio (Ita) 67 69 74, J Donaldson (Wal) 69 67 74, T Olesen (Den) 66 71 73, R Bland (Eng) 67 70 73, D Law (Sco) 69 71 70, T Pulkkanen (Fin) 70 70 70, S Sharma (Ind) 73 67 70, T Tree (Eng) 73 67 70, R Gouveia (Por) 69 72 69,
211 R Fox (Nzl) 67 69 75, J Suri (USA) 69 71 71, R Enoch (Wal) 69 71 71, D Coupland (Eng) 72 68 71, J Smith (Eng) 73 67 71, A Cañizares (Esp) 70 71 70, A Romero (Arg) 71 70 70,
212 J Caldwell (Nir) 65 72 75, G Migliozzi (Ita) 67 71 74, S Brown (Eng) 68 70 74, J Senior (Eng) 69 71 72, R Santos (Por) 69 71 72, M Schneider (Ger) 69 72 71, E Cuartero Blanco (Esp) 70 71 71, L Van Meijel (Ned) 71 70 71, S Gallacher (Sco) 76 65 71,
213 T Bessa (Por) 68 70 75, P Larrazábal (Esp) 69 71 73,
214 S Soderberg (Swe) 66 75 73,
215 D Drysdale (Sco) 70 68 77, M Southgate (Eng) 69 72 74,
216 C Pigem (Esp) 72 69 75
