2008 Volvo China Open - Round 3: McGrane hits the front as Liang fades

Ireland’s Damien McGrane set himself well for the maiden win of his career, when his third round score of four-under-par 68 gave him pole position at the Volvo China Open on Saturday.

Overnight leader, Michael Lorenzo-vera of France slipped down to a share of second place with England’s Oliver Wilson after they both finished with a three-day total of eight-under-par 208 at the Beijing CBD International Golf Club.

Two-time Asian Tour winner, Scott Strange of Australia carded the day’s best score of 66 for a 210 total to finish in fourth place while current Asian Tour Order of Merit leader, Mark Brown of New Zealand is a further shot back in fifth on 211.

Defending champion, Markus Brier of Austria, Jason Knutzon of the United States and Fabrizio Zanotti of Paraguay are all tied for sixth after they returned with matching 212s.

McGrane started the day tied for second and got off the blocks quickly by reeling in three consecutive birdies starting from the 199-yards par-three three.

Two bogeys on the sixth and seventh holes cut his lead back but the Irishman made amends with four more birdies against a lone bogey on his homeward run to take him to the brink of his first title win.

“I am looking for my first win and I have been close for a number of years now. I have to start somewhere and you’ve to start with one. The sooner it comes, the better,” said McGrane.

“It is nice to go out as the leader and a little cushion is good. I have led tournaments before and it is all part and parcel of the golf business. I am expecting to play well again tomorrow and use my experiences in the past to help me achieve that,” added McGrane.

Asian Tour regular, Strange, who started the day tied for 23rd, made the biggest move of the day after his sparkling round of 66 took him to fourth place.

The 31-year-old Australian got off steadily on his opening front nine with a birdie on the second.

But it was only on his homeward nine that Strange began to mount a spectacular charge for the title.

He reeled in five more birdies, starting from the 11th, then moving on to three consecutive ones from the tricky 14th before closing with a last on the 18th.

“I liked my birdie on the 14th. I was pretty impressed with that. I was just on the fringe of the fairways and I hit it back to the greens with a seven-iron from 174 metres,” said Strange.

“There was a big bounce from about 12 metres to about two or three foot for my birdie chance,” added Strange

Brown also made a good move up from 13th place to tied-sixth but believes that he will have to do better with his tee shots so as to move within sight of the title at the US$2.2 million event sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and China Golf Association.

“I didn’t really play very well from tee to green. I just hung in there with my short game the whole day,” said Brown.

“Tomorrow, you’ve got to have one of those days where you’ve to shoot very low scores. If I hit the fairways, it’s possible. Hopefully the driver will behave,” added Brown.

Home favourite, Liang Wen-chong of China who has been the star attraction among the huge galleries this week is tied for 14th after a 73 for a three-day total of 214, nine behind the leader.

While he has a big catch-up to do on the final day, the Chinese star has been very touched by the support and encouragement that he has been receiving from his home fans all week.

“I’m very happy to see the huge crowds who have been following me throughout the week. It is also very heartwarming to see family bringing their kids to the golf course today,” said Liang.

“It’s nice to see young kids like them being exposed and introduced to the game at such a young game as this bodes well for the future and development of golf in China.”

Leading third round scores (click here for full leaderboard):

205 - Damien Mcgrane (IRL) 68-69-68
208 - Oliver Wilson (ENG) 72-66-70, Michael Lorenzo-Vera (FRA) 67-69-72
210 - Scott Strange (AUS) 73-71-66
211 - Mark Brown (NZL) 71-71-69
212 - Fabrizio Zanotti (PAR) 71-71-70, Markus Brier (AUT) 71-69-72, Jason Knutzon (USA) 68-72-72
213 - Graeme Mcdowell (NIR) 73-72-68, David Bransdon (AUS) 73-72-68,Airil Rizman (MAS) 69-72-72, Simon Griffiths (ENG) 68-72-73, Richard Finch (ENG) 68-69-76

Selected Scores

214 - Liang Wen-chong (CHN) 73-68-73
216 - David Howell (ENG) 72-73-71

April 19, 2008