Ace sends Cutler in pole position
After a day of sunshine and perfect conditions, Irish player Paul Cutler took the lead in the European Amateur Championship in Esbjerg. Hen now enters an interesting final day one stroke ahead of Germanys Stephan Gross and Luke Goddard from England
Henrik Søe, 22. august 2008
Luck of the Irish? Probably not. It was Cutlers third hole in one.
After two days of wind, rain and tough playing conditions, the players saw the light Friday. Sunshine and a light breeze made conditions perfect for the field in Esbjerg. The change in weather were clearly visible on the leaderboard where a lot of players finished their rounds with scores in the 60’s.
Paul Cutler started the day five strokes behind Jurrian Van der Vaart from Holland, but the Irishman used a hole-in-one on the 13th hole to jump to the top of the leaderboard. Cutler carded a 68 (-3) and leads Stephan Gross and Luke Goddard from England with one stroke before Saturdays final round.
- I was comfortable today, my iron shots were good, and my putting was good. I feel good about tomorrow, I just have to keep doing what I did today and maybe we’ll have a double Irish victory, he said referring to the other Irish player, Niall Kearney, who is in fourth position.
Dutchman Jurrian Van der Vaart who came into Fridays round with a solid three stroke lead had a tough day in Esbjerg. He is now four behind Paul Cutler but - like may others - still have an outside chance of winning.
Much depends on the weather in the Saturdays final round. The typical Danish summer weather didn’t last all Friday either. At 1.45 pm the championship committee had to blow the horn and call all players in the club house due to thunder. An hour later the clouds disappeared and the players were able to resume play in beautiful sunshine.
Hopefully the sun will shine again Saturday when we face a very interesting and exiting battle for the prestigious European title.
Results R3
Gallery
