In this furiously fickle game of fine margins, Gary Orr is certainly not going to be getting carried away with a three stroke lead at the Scottish Senior Open. “You can’t have a big enough lead … and 13 shots would be better,” said the Helensburgh veteran with a smile.
Orr had plenty to smile about, of course, as his six-under 65 at Craigielaw left him in a position of authority with a nine-under 133 heading into the final round.
On a first perusal, Orr’s bogey-free card looked as neat as a calligraphy evening class but his tidy figures didn’t tell the full story. “It was actually a wee bit scrappy in parts but I made a couple of very good up-and-downs to save par,” he added of those well executed salvage operations which needed to be performed when he missed the greens on the par-3 sixth and 17th. “They are maybe more important than birdies as it keeps the momentum going.”
Orr, who won twice on the main European Tour back in 2000, is seeking his first victory in the over-50s ranks. Only three Scots, namely Sam Torrance, Bill Longmuir and David Huish, have won the Scottish Senior Open in its 26 year history with Torrance the last home winner in 2006.
He may have been around the golfing block but the passing of the years don’t diminish those birling butterflies of anticipation. “I want to be nervous,” he added. “I don't want to wake up feeling flat. You want to feel the nerves a bit as that gets you focused. You want to feel a bit of an edge and I’m looking forward to that."
Compared to the feisty conditions of Friday’s opening round, things had calmed down considerably yesterday. “It was maybe just a one club wind and it was much easier,” noted Orr. “It was actually a bit of a shock to the system after day one.”
His round was aided by a polished performance with the putter and a birdie putt from some 25-feet over the tier on the tough 13th was the pick of his gains. England’s David Shacklady is Orr’s nearest challenger on six-under with Paul Streeter and Stephen Dodd a stroke further back.
At the European Tour’s KLM Open, David Drysdale sits in a share of sixth spot on 10-under after a third round 69. The Scot, who is battling to keep his tour card, lurks three shots behind England’s Chris Wood who surged to the front on 13-under with a fine 65.
In the Evian Championship, the final major of the year, Amy Olson fired a six-under 65 to lead by two strokes on a 14-under tally. Georgia Hall, who won the Women's British Open last month, sits on nine-under after a 68.
Scotsman Liam Johnston is one shot off the lead heading into the closing round of the Challenge Tour's lucrative Kazakhstan Open.
Johnston, a winner on the circuit earlier in the year, carded an eight-under 64 which hoisted him into second on 19-under, behind Sam Crocker of the USA who blasted a rousing 62.
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