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Kjeldson moves five shots
clear
Soren Kjeldsen closed in on Denmark's first victory on this year's European
Tour, moving five strokes clear of the field in the Diageo Championship third
round on Saturday.
The 28-year-old Dane, who is also bidding this week for his maiden title on
the tour, fired a five-under-par 67 to finish at nine-under 207.
Kjeldsen's playing partner, Paul Broadhurst (71) of Britain, and local favourite
Alastair Forsyth (69) were tied for second at four under, with defending champion
Adam Scott of Australia in fourth at three-under 213 after a blemish-free 66.
Seven-times European number one Colin Montgomerie was a further stroke back
in a tie for fifth, but the Scot was disgruntled and said he had "turned
a 64 into a 69".
Kjeldsen, who began the day a stroke ahead of Broadhurst, got off to a fast
start with three birdies in the first three holes.
He picked up two more shots before the turn, and another at the 11th, to stretch
his lead to six.
However the Dane faltered over the closing holes, offsetting two more birdies
with three bogeys as his advantage was cut by one.
"I feel good at the attention I'm getting, with the situation, and looking
at the leaderboard was good for me," said Kjeldsen, after playing in relatively
calm conditions following the strong winds of the first two days.
"Yesterday was pretty wild and you had to create shots. Then this morning,
when I saw it was calmer, I was pleased because I knew I could hit the ball close.
"When I came here my main goal was to give myself a chance because I've
started a lot of weekends just in the top 25, and now that goal's been achieved.
I'm going to attack (on Sunday)."
Scott, who reeled off six birdies for the best round of the week, was confident
he could put up a strong title defence in the final round.
"I want to hold on to this title as long as I can," the 22-year-old
Australian said.
"But it could have been even better (today), it felt like I left five
shots out there for my 66.
"I've played pretty well this week but for not finishing well, four-putting
on Thursday and losing a ball yesterday.
"Otherwise my game has turned round totally in the last three weeks,"
added Scott, who has been suffering a head cold after shaking off a virus he picked
up during last week's U.S. Open.
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