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Cejka leads after shooting
66
Alex Cejka of Germany shot
a 66 to move atop the leaderboard at 12-under-par 204 Saturday at the Scottish
PGA Championship. Cejka takes a one-shot lead over England's Paul Casey into the
final round.
The 30-year-old Cejka began
the day five strokes off the lead but quickly birdied the first two holes to begin
his ascent. He added two more birdies on the eighth and ninth to move to nine-under
par after the front nine.
Though he ran into trouble
on the par-four 13th where he three-putted for bogey, Cejka countered with three
birdies on the five remaining holes to grab the top spot with 18 holes to play.
"I think the difference
is that I have been putting well, in fact I've been putting well the last few
weeks after the Open," said Cejka. "It is so far so good and I'm really
happy to be in this position but we'll have to see what happens tomorrow."
Cejka has three wins on
the European tour, all of them coming in 1995. His best finish since is a tie
for second at the Malaysian Open in 1999, although he has been playing with confidence
since his 13th place finish at last month's British Open at Royal Lytham &
St. Annes.
"My season started
pretty poorly but from the Open on I have felt much more confident," said
Cejka. "At Lytham I was playing with the big boys, the superstars of golf,
and I almost beat them. Of course that gave me a big boost and we will see how
far I can take it tomorrow."
Casey, who posted a 67 to
move to 11-under 205, emerged from a group of players due to his play on the back
nine. Four birdies, three of which came on par-fives, lifted the 24-year-old into
sole possession of second place.
"I think that is the
key to the course and probably the reason why I scored a couple of shots lower
today that I have done before this week. I think having five par-fives in total
here suits my game, which is in pretty good shape all around," said Casey.
Fellow countryman Justin
Rose, who trails Casey by one stroke, also owes his position to his play on the
back nine. The 21-year-old dropped two shots, on the 13th and 16th, but kept his
composure enough to birdie the 14th, 15th, 17th, and 18th to move to 10-under
208.
Five players were knotted
at nine-under 209, including Scotland's Stephen Gallacher, who turned in a third-round
69.
Ryder Cup hopeful Andrew
Oldcorn, who posted a 73, needs a strong finish to help his chance of making the
European squad. He dropped to six-under 212 along with second-round leader Gary
Evans, who struggled to a 77.
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