Kalle Samooja recorded a five under par round of 66 to join overnight leader Nicolai von Dellingshausen at the top of the leaderboard heading into the final day of the Tenerife Open, with a large chasing pack in hot pursuit.
Both of the leaders are seeking a maiden European Tour win, with 2018 European Challenge Tour graduate Samooja having lost out in a play-off in each of his full seasons on Tour.
Von Dellingshausen entered the third round with a three-shot lead at Golf Costa Adeje, and he kept his nose in front for most of the day as his rivals closed in, signing for a one under par round of 70 to get to 17 under par after holing a crucial putt on the last.
Finn Samooja recorded six birdies and a single bogey in his round of 66 to join the German at the summit, one shot clear of South African Dean Burmester, who had a rollercoaster back nine that included three birdies, three bogies and an eagle.
Sebastian Garcia Rodriguez is the leading Spanish player at 15 under par alongside Poland’s Adrian Meronk and Yikeun Chang of South Korea, with another Spaniard in Alfredo Garcia-Heredia, South African Garrick Higgo and American pair Sean Crocker and John Catlin one shot further back.
Player Quotes
Nicolai von Dellingshausen: “The last two holes were actually a boost. I misread my first putt by quite a bit and then rolled in from two metres on the 17th, and then that swinger on the last. Putting was good the last few days as well, especially from those distances. It’s always good when you finish with a putt like that.
“I had to be very patient. I would be lying if I said I didn’t have any nerves just going out here. It’s a situation that is not completely new to me, but it’s a different set up on the European Tour. I tried to stay patient and I did. I wasn’t forcing anything as I know from the past that things can go wrong at times. I didn’t hit enough fairways to really hit it close especially in the wind.”
Kalle Samooja: “My short game was pretty spot on today. Ball striking hasn’t been that pretty, especially today, so you need to find something in your game that works. I didn’t change my game plan. I think the wind was pretty much the same as we had yesterday afternoon and evening, so we kind of got used to it yesterday when it was a little tricky.
“‘Play better on Saturday’ is the first thing I have learned. I’ve been playing pretty bad on Saturdays. But it’s a learning process and it’s a long week. Four days is a lot of good golf to play. It’s pretty tightly packed and anything can happen so you need to be relaxed and make a lot of birdies.
Dean Burmester: “On the front nine I pretty much flushed it for nine holes. Got on to the 10th tee, little bit of a wait, bit of indecision and hit my first bad shot. That proved to be the story of the back nine. Played the par threes poorly. But all-in-all if you had given me 66, five under, around here in the wind, I would definitely have taken it.
“I haven’t won in a long time so we will need to wait and see what happens. The nice thing is that I’ve been here before, many times, so if it’s my time tomorrow, it’s my time. If it isn’t, I’ll just carry on waiting.”
Sebastian Garcia-Rodriguez: It was very good, I’m so happy. After a low round, every golf course seems perfect for me. Today we were lucky that there was not too much wind. The golf course suits me, the greens are very good. My driving and putting has been good. I’m hitting the irons well and have confidence with the driver.
“After Kenya, I played so badly in my next few tournaments, but I needed a rest. Now I’m playing well again. I have been speaking a lot with my caddie to help me improve and his advice has been to smile more and just enjoy it. Now I’m trying to play with a smile. It has helped me to have more self- confidence and that has reflected in the scores. My goal goal is just to keep the confidence up and play the same way.”
Round Three Scores
196 K SAMOOJA (FIN) 64 66 66, N VON DELLINGSHAUSEN (GER) 64 62 70,
197 D BURMESTER (RSA) 63 68 66,
198 S GARCIA RODRIGUEZ (ESP) 66 68 64, A MERONK (POL) 68 65 65, Y CHANG (KOR) 67 64 67,
199 G HIGGO (RSA) 63 70 66, A GARCIA-HEREDIA (ESP) 69 64 66, J CATLIN (USA) 63 69 67, S CROCKER (USA) 67 64 68,
200 J CALDWELL (NIR) 66 68 66, E MOLINARI (ITA) 69 65 66, S KIM (USA) 67 65 68, E ROUSAUD (ESP) 64 66 70,
201 M KAWAMURA (JPN) 65 72 64, J HARDING (RSA) 66 69 66, A BJ?RK (SWE) 63 69 69, L DE JAGER (RSA) 66 66 69, S JAMIESON (SCO) 69 61 71, S HEND (AUS) 66 64 71,
202 A ARNAUS (ESP) 65 71 66, F LAPORTA (ITA) 68 67 67, L CANTER (ENG) 65 70 67, J SMITH (ENG) 67 67 68, P WARING (ENG) 67 65 70, P ANGLES (ESP) 65 64 73,
203 P ORIOL (ESP) 69 69 65, G MIGLIOZZI (ITA) 70 68 65, J WALTERS (RSA) 68 70 65, J LAGERGREN (SWE) 67 70 66, Z LOMBARD (RSA) 71 64 68, N BERTASIO (ITA) 67 67 69, A CA?IZARES (ESP) 68 65 70, T OLESEN (DEN) 62 69 72,
204 J HANSEN (DEN) 69 69 66, R SCIOT-SIEGRIST (FRA) 64 73 67, M SCHWAB (AUT) 68 69 67, J SURI (USA) 66 70 68, R RAMSAY (SCO) 69 67 68, J DONALDSON (WAL) 69 67 68, E DE LA RIVA (ESP) 67 69 68, M ANTCLIFF (AUS) 66 69 69, A JOHNSTON (ENG) 67 67 70,
205 M KORHONEN (FIN) 68 70 67, R MANSELL (ENG) 68 70 67, S V?LIM?KI (FIN) 67 70 68, C SHINKWIN (ENG) 71 65 69, A LEVY (FRA) 67 69 69, P LARRAZ?BAL (ESP) 66 70 69,
206 A HERNANDEZ CABEZUELA (AM) (ESP) 72 65 69, J MORRISON (ENG) 68 69 69, A OTAEGUI (ESP) 69 67 70, A WU (CHN) 70 66 70, M FORD (ENG) 69 66 71,
207 R FISHER (ENG) 69 69 69, S SODERBERG (SWE) 70 68 69, L VAN MEIJEL (NED) 69 68 70, D WHITNELL (ENG) 71 66 70, N H?JGAARD (DEN) 69 68 70, M SCHNEIDER (GER) 67 69 71, J LUITEN (NED) 65 70 72, T TREE (ENG) 65 69 73,
208 K BROBERG (SWE) 68 70 70, R ENOCH (WAL) 72 66 70, M PAVON (FRA) 70 68 70, J MCLEOD (AUS) 68 69 71, A COCKERILL (CAN) 69 68 71, B EVANS (ENG) 70 67 71, E PEPPERELL (ENG) 68 68 72, O WILSON (ENG) 73 62 73,
209 H PORTEOUS (RSA) 68 70 71, M JORDAN (ENG) 68 69 72, G FORREST (SCO) 68 66 75,
210 N KEARNEY (IRL) 69 69 72, R JACQUELIN (FRA) 69 68 73,
211 T PULKKANEN (FIN) 69 68 74, D VAN DRIEL (NED) 68 69 74,
