| Dier
stays clear with late eagle Tobias
Dier of Germany closed with an eagle on Saturday to maintain a three-stroke lead
after the third round of the TNT Open. Dier,
who set a course record with a 10-under-par 60 in Thursday's opening round, carded
his second straight 67 with the help of a terrific drive and putt for eagle on
the 18th to move to 16-under 194 for the tournament. Padraig
Harrington of Ireland and Mark Roe of England are tied for second and Peter Lonard
of Australia and Sweden's Pierre Fulke are four strokes off the pace. The
25-year-old Dier started the day with a three-stroke advantage, but made his first
bogey of the week at the fourth hole and two more at holes 10 and 16. He had birdies
at six, eight, 12 and 13 and was 1-under for the day with one hole to play. Dier
saved his best for last with a five-iron to the green and then converted a 20-foot
putt for an eagle three. "To
finish eagle was good but I still felt like I left a few shots out there today,"
said Dier, who won his first tournament last season in the North West of Ireland
Open. "But I'm happy with a 67. I'm not complaining." Harrington
birdied four of his last seven holes in his round of 64 to surge into a tie for
second. "At
the end of the day it is what you score, not how you do it, but I don't think
I played great today," Harrington said. "My expectations are high and
I'm very hard on myself." Roe
carded a 66 with a birdie on 16 and also eagled 18 where his seven-iron shot landed
three feet from the pin. "A
66 is always a good round here," said Roe, whose last win was in the Peugeot
Open de France in 1994. "Coming to the 18th, I nutted a drive and seven iron
to three feet." Lonard,
who started the day three strokes behind Dier, shot a 68 and Fulke carded a 65
on Saturday. Jamie
Spence started the day tied with Lonard, but had a 69 and is tied with Raymond
Russell at 11-under. Defending
champion Bernhard Langer shot a 69 for the second straight day and is 1-under
for the tournament Email
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