Michael Hoey continued to make light of his poor form of late to surge into a commanding five-shot lead after round three at the Russian Open. The 34-year-old, whose last tournament win on the European Tour came at the Trophee Hassan II in Morocco in 2012, arrived at the Tseleevo Golf & Polo Club having missed the cut in seven of his previous 10 events. Northern Ireland s Hoey, though, heads into the final day brimming with confidence off the back of a sensational seven-under 65 on Saturday that included six birdies and an eagle at the par-five eight. Five successive pars on both the front and back nine laid the foundations for a memorable round for the man from Ballyclare, who is 14 under overall. A bogey at the 11th was the only blot on Hoey s copybook as he appears to have quickly eradicated the “silly mistakes” that he bemoaned following his 67 on Friday, which left him tied for second. Overnight leader Sweden&aposs Rikard Karlberg and Englishman Matthew Nixon are next on nine under. Karlberg recovered well from a double bogey on the second and further dropped shots on the fifth and sixth to birdie the seventh, eighth, 15th and 17th in a round of par 72, while Nixon enjoyed a bogey-free 68. Defending champion Alexandre Kaleka is back on eight under along with South African James Kingston. The Frenchman&aposs bid for back-to-back titles was undermined by bogeys wedged either side of a double bogey at the ninth. Another dropped shot at the last ensured Kaleka&aposs round of one-under 71 ended on a flat note. Four bogeys in the last five holes and six overall on Saturday propelled Kingston up the leaderboard. A trio of players JB Hansen, Mikko Korhonen and James Morrison are seven under, the latter ruing a triple bogey at the last. Jorge Campillo, Mark Foster and Matthew Baldwin sit a further shot back on 210 for the weekend so far.
Author: Omnisport