Golf:Gary Murphy kept his place inside the top 10 on the third day of the €1.5million Madrid Masters but he, like the rest of the field, could be playing for second place after Ross McGowan distanced himself at the top with an astounding round of 60 at the Centro Nacional de Golf venue.
The overnight leader left everyone in his wake, including playing partner Sergio Garcia, with a round that only contained four pars.
That fact only tells part of the story for he had a staggering 10 birdies, two eagles and two bogeys on the card. There was no room for any pars on the back nine and McGowan’s second eagle of the day fittingly came at the 18th.
“Today was pretty special,” beamed the Englishman after his round. “I’ve been hitting the ball great and managed to get the putter working today.”
"I cannot believe it (the 60). I just played my own game and didn't think about the score until I hit my second shot to the 18th. Then I thought, hang on, that was for a 59.
"I don't feel like I'm going to miss a shot unless I'm in the rough or get a silly lie," added McGowan, whose score won’t go into the record books as there was placing on the fairways today.
The magical 60 comes off the back of two 66s and at 24-under-par 192 he holds a seven shot lead from fellow countryman Danny Willett (66) and France’s Michael Lorenzo-Vera (64) – the biggest lead at this stage of a tournament this year on tour.
Murphy’s 70 pales in comparison to McGowan’s fireworks but the Kilkenny pro rallied well after a sluggish start. Two bogeys on the front nine and no birdies meant he quickly lost ground. However an eagle at the 10th kick-started Murphy, who would go on to pick up two birdies to be tied ninth on 14-under.
The 36-year-old was joined on that mark by Garcia after the world number eight shot 71 and had to accept his place in the shadow of McGowan, who will go in search of his first European Tour win in tomorrow’s final round.
Gareth Maybin and Damien McGrane both shot 68s to get to 10-under and overtake Shane Lowry, who was unable to anywhere close to the heights of yesterday’s 63. The Irish Open champion struggled to a one-over 73 to be nine-under.
Peter Lawrie and Michael Hoey both shot level par 72s to remain on eight and six-under respectively.
