David GonzalezThe Irish Challenge has arrived at Sunday with precisely the sort of leaderboard that makes a comfortable afternoon unlikely.
Justin Harding and Louis Albertse share the lead at 12 under par at Killeen Castle, one shot clear of Tobias Jensen Eden and Bryce Easton, after a third round in which one South African advanced and the other had to recover from a late jolt.
Harding turns the par fives into his route to the top
Harding began the weekend three shots behind and signed for a three-under 69, doing most of the useful damage on Killeen Castle’s par fives. He birdied all four of them, dropped only one shot and set the clubhouse target at 12 under.
“I played pretty well today,” he said.
“I kept it in play off the tee and gave myself a lot of chances. I’m still waiting for a day like Thursday where you pour them in and the lines jump out at you. I’m happy where I’m at.”
There was patience in the round rather than pyrotechnics. Harding played the front nine in one under, added another birdie at the 12th and then produced the shot that gave his card a little theatre.
At the par-five 15th, his approach nearly disappeared for an albatross before settling close enough to leave a routine birdie.
Routine, of course, is one of golf’s more mischievous words. Harding made it look so.
Albertse takes the scenic route back to level par
Albertse started the day two clear and looked capable of protecting that advantage. He turned in two under and moved two shots ahead again with a birdie at the par-five 15th.
Then came the 16th.
An errant tee shot helped produce a double bogey, wiping away the cushion and dragging Albertse back alongside Harding. The important part followed. He made par at the 17th, then found a greenside bunker with his approach to the 18th and escaped with a par that may have felt rather more valuable than the number printed on the card.
“I was super happy with how I finished,” Albertse said. “The up-and-down on 18 was great. It was probably one of the best up-and-downs I’ve made all season.
“I think us South Africans are rooting for each other this year. It was nice to play with Bryce today even though it was serious at times. Tomorrow is massive for me as we’re all getting closer to the DP World Tour cards so I’m very excited and we’ll see what happens.”
A level-par 70 was not the round Albertse might have imagined from his overnight position, but the final two holes stopped a wobble becoming a collapse.
In an Irish Challenge this compressed, that distinction matters.
One shot covers a dangerous chasing pack
Jensen Eden and Easton sit together on 11 under, only one behind the leaders.
Another stroke back is a five-man group on ten under: Robin Sciot-Siegrist, Matthieu Decottignies-Lafon, Baard Skogen, Frank Kennedy and Pablo Ereno.
That leaves nine players within two shots of the lead. There is no need to manufacture Sunday tension; the arithmetic has already done the job.
For Harding, the opportunity carries another layer. He is seeking a first HotelPlanner Tour victory and, at 40, has put himself back into the final group after what he describes as a difficult couple of years.
“I feel like I’m playing better and gaining control of my golf ball,” he added. “It’s nice to be in there with a shout again.
“I had a good little run in Spain when Ryan (van Velzen) won and put three good rounds together last week. It’s been a couple of rough years so it’s nice to have a chance like this. I can’t control anyone else’s golf ball, so I’ve just got to go out there and match it.”
That final sentence is the useful one. Sunday leaderboards tempt players into watching everybody else. Harding’s task is simpler to describe than to execute: keep the ball under command and make the rest of the field do its own worrying.
Irish Challenge final round set for a tight finish
The final round begins at 7:14 am, with Albertse and Harding out last at 12:40 pm.
Their pairing gives the Irish Challenge a neat South African headline, but the leaderboard is far too crowded for this to become a private match.
Albertse has already shown he can absorb a poor hole without allowing it to infect the next two. Harding has shown that Killeen Castle’s par fives can be attacked without turning the scorecard into a casualty report.
Behind them, seven players are close enough to make a fast start deeply inconvenient.
Harding certainly sounds pleased to be occupying this particular piece of Sunday real estate.
“I feel like I’m playing better and gaining control of my golf ball,” he added. “It’s nice to be in there with a shout again.
“I had a good little run in Spain when Ryan (van Velzen) won and put three good rounds together last week. It’s been a couple of rough years so it’s nice to have a chance like this. I can’t control anyone else’s golf ball, so I’ve just got to go out there and match it.”
The first part of that equation is already settled: Harding and Albertse will begin together, tied at 12 under.
Everything after that belongs to Killeen Castle.
