- Czech Open, Round Three
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O'Hara and Fisher in fight for first tour title
ESPN staff
August 20, 2011
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Steven O'Hara lines up a putt
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Steven O'Hara and Oliver Fisher will go into the final round of the Czech Open with a share of the lead as they both look for their maiden victory on the European Tour.
O'Hara, the 31-year-old Scot, enjoyed a bogey-free round of 65 to leapfrog to the top of the leaderboard at Prosper Golf Resort, setting a 12-under par target that eventually only Fisher was able to match.
The 22-year-old Englishman, who has come close to a first professional victory on a number of occasions but never managed to get across the line, began the day among the leaders and made real progress around the turn - holing an iron shot from the fairway for an eagle on the 11th as he went on to card a balanced round of 64.
Those rounds enabled both men to overhaul second round leader Mikael Lundberg, who had been forced to come back and finish his second round early on Saturday morning after lightning delayed play on Friday. The Swede looked to be slightly tired by his exertions, as he was only able to grind out a level-par 72 (three bogeys and three birdies) to drop two shots off the pace at eight-under.
Despite the leaders' form the round of the day came from Gaganjeet Bhullar, who carded a blistering round of 64 to move firmly into contention, also at eight-under.
Beginning his round on the tenth the Indian made a fast start - birdieing two of his opening three holes before finding an eagle at the driveable par-four 13th. Two more birdies followed to send him out in 30 and, while his inward nine was less spectacular, the world No. 306 is another who will come into the final round with a great chance of claiming his first European Tour victory.
Englishman Gary Boyd is level with Bhullar after a less spectacular round of 70 - putting him two shots clear of the Scot David Drysdale (69) and experienced Irishman Damien McGrane (72) at six-under.
A whole host of players at five-under were left frustrated as they failed to make tracks on Saturday, leaving themselves an uphill challenge to contend for victory over the closing 18 holes. Steve Webster and Paul McGinley could both only manage 71s to gain a solitary stroke against par, while Argentinian Tano Goya recorded a 72.
That was nevertheless better than Jose Manuel Lara - the Spaniard shared the lead at the start of the day but had a stretch of four bogeys in five holes during the front nine that he was unable to recover from, eventually carding a round of 73 to leave himself adrift of the front-runners at six-under.
Further down the field, David Howell will be hoping for a more successful final round than the last time he was in contention - at the Irish Open - as he looks to build on his current three-under total. The former Ryder Cup player enjoyed his second successive round of 69 to recover after an opening 75 that effectively scuppered any chance he had of victory.
Fabrizio Zanotti, Rafa Echenique and Romain Wattel are among a number of others at three-under who will hope to put in a good round on Sunday to both boost their world ranking and their Race to Dubai standing.
© ESPN EMEA Ltd
