Golf
Molinaris lead at Gleneagles
2010-08-28 19:30
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Gleneagles - Italy's Edoardo Molinari closed to within one shot of his brother Francesco's lead at the Johnnie Walker Championship to improve his hopes of making Europe's Ryder Cup team.
Edoardo carded a 69 in the third round on Saturday and hopes he has done enough to convince European captain Colin Montgomerie to give him a Ryder Cup wildcard even if he doesn't qualify automatically.
Francesco, already qualified for the European team for the October clash against the United States at Celtic Manor, carded a 68 for a 10-under total that left him top of the leaderboard heading into Sunday's final round.
Edoardo said: "I'm probably one of the candidates, so I think if you win the last event and you don't get picked there's something seriously wrong."
But Montgomerie was asked if he could omit the Italian if he wins and replied: "Oh yeah, I might not.
"It would make my headache even worse, but it's a lovely headache to have. I don't feel under pressure to pick somebody from this tournament. I feel under pressure to pick the best players.
"It's an extremely interesting situation we find ourselves in - and it would happen to me."
Edoardo and his brother won the World Cup together last November, and the former claims they could work equally well together as a Ryder Cup pairing.
Francesco qualified automatically when Ross McGowan withdrew from the Johnnie Walker event injured on Thursday, thereby ending the Englishman's Cup dream.
England's Simon Dyson, needing to win to have any chance of automatic qualification, is eight under after a third-round 70.
But even victory for Dyson would not guarantee a spot on Montgomerie's side because he also needs either Miguel Angel Jimenez to finish outside the top nine or Peter Hanson outside the top 43.
Spain's Jimenez, who currently occupies the ninth and last remaining qualifying berth in the Cup standings, was just a shot behind Dyson, carding a 71.
"Miguel's score never entered my mind once out there," Dyson said. "You can't really focus on anybody else's score. I'm just focusing on my own."
Swede Hanson, who is eighth in the standings, birdied his first two holes but went on to card five bogeys as he went around in 75 to leave him three under.
Spaniard Alvaro Quiros needs a minor miracle to force his way into an automatic qualifying place after a 73 left him level par for the tournament.
Joint overnight leaders Gary Boyd and David Lynn and Frenchman Julien Guerrier all endured a disappointing round to fall down the leaderboard.
Collated third round scores and totals in the European Tour Johnnie Walker Championships at Gleneagles, Scotland on Saturday (GBR and IRL unless stated, par 72):
206 - Francesco Molinari (ITA) 68 70 68
207 - Edoardo Molinari (ITA) 70 68 69
208 - Stephen Gallacher 67 70 71, Oliver Wilson 70 70 68, Julien Guerrier (FRA) 68 67 73, Gregory Bourdy (FRA) 68 70 70, Simon Dyson 68 70 70
209 - Damien McGrane 72 67 70, Pelle Edberg (SWE) 71 69 69, Peter Hedblom (SWE) 69 70 70, Brett Rumford (AUS) 71 70 68, Gary Boyd 67 68 74, Marc Warren 68 70 71, Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP) 70 68 71, Simon Thornton 71 71 67, Jyoti Randhawa (IND) 70 70 69
210 - Richard Finch 66 74 70, Mark Foster 70 67 73
211 - Gary Lockerbie 68 73 70, Felipe Aguilar (CHI) 72 70 69, Sam Walker 68 71 72, Stephen Dodd 71 72 68, Soren Hansen (DEN) 74 65 72, George Coetzee (RSA) 69 68 74
212 - Ross Fisher 72 67 73, Phillip Archer 70 73 69, Jamie Donaldson 69 74 69, Maarten Lafeber (NED) 70 72 70, David Lynn 67 68 77, Paul McGinley 68 70 74, Steven O'Hara 70 70 72
213 - Richard Bland 67 75 71, Jeev Milkha Singh (IND) 71 72 70, John Parry 72 70 71, Jarmo Sandelin (SWE) 73 69 71, Marcel Siem (GER) 71 71 71, Peter Hanson (SWE) 69 69 75, Robert Rock 67 71 75, Ignacio Garrido (ESP) 71 72 70, Chapchai Nirat (THA) 70 69 74, Bradley Dredge 71 68 74
214 - Sam Hutsby 72 71 71, Michael Lorenzo-Vera (FRA) 70 70 74, Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL) 72 68 74
215 - Christian Cevaer (FRA) 72 70 73, Fredrik Ohlsson (SWE) 72 71 72, Anders Hansen (DEN) 71 72 72, Paul Lawrie 69 73 73, Paul Waring 69 73 73, Nick Dougherty 68 72 75, Rhys Davies 73 70 72, Emanuele Canonica (ITA) 73 70 72
216 - Sion E Bebb 72 70 74, Robert Dinwiddie 72 71 73, Alvaro Quiros (ESP) 72 71 73, Graeme Storm 71 72 73
217 - Tommy Fleetwood 73 68 76
218 - Martin Wiegele (AUT) 72 71 75, Marco Ruiz (PAR) 71 71 76, Phillip Price 72 69 77, Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND) 69 74 75, Oliver Fisher 69 73 76, James Morrison 71 72 75
219 - Ricardo Gonzalez (ARG) 68 75 76
220 - Miles Tunnicliff 69 74 77
221 - Robert Coles 72 69 80