Staff WriterFilip Mruzek and Julian Perico will carry a shared two-shot lead into the final round of the Interwetten Open after separating themselves from the field at Schladming-Dachstein Golf Club with the sort of Saturday golf that tends to make grown professionals look calm while their internal organs play jazz.
Mruzek Goes Bogey-Free As Austria Starts To Bite
Mruzek, from the Czech Republic, produced the round of the day, a bogey-free six under par 63, to move to 14 under. It was tidy, disciplined and completely without the kind of self-inflicted nonsense that usually appears when a leaderboard starts flashing opportunity.
Alongside him at the top sits Peru’s Julian Perico, who followed closely with a 64 of his own. Between them, they have turned the Interwetten Open into a final-round duel with just enough company behind to prevent anyone from sleeping too deeply.
Both men are chasing a maiden HotelPlanner Tour title. That alone brings pressure. Add in Road to Mallorca implications, the late Sunday tee time and the uncomfortable knowledge that golf has a dark sense of humour, and the final round should have plenty of pulse.
“Freedom Golf” Has Mruzek In Contention
Mruzek, currently 66th in the Road to Mallorca Rankings, has been around long enough to appreciate the difference between opportunity and entitlement. After years of playing on invites, full playing status appears to have given him something more useful than comfort: perspective.
“It’s nice to be here with a full category after seven years of playing invites,” he said. “I’m enjoying every day, every moment playing with the guys. I just like to be here.
“Today was perfect. The last three weeks, I’m playing really good golf, really relaxed, I call it freedom golf. I just like to be in this position, I’m enjoying every shot, every round. It’s nice to be here with 18 holes to go.
“My aim is just to have a good day. I feel like I can play good, that’s the main goal. If I’m able to take the trophy home, perfect, if not it will be a learning day and we’ll keep going.”
There is something disarmingly sensible about that. “Freedom golf” is a fine phrase, partly because it sounds like a lifestyle brand and partly because every golfer alive would pay handsomely for it in tablet form.
For Mruzek, it meant a round without blemish and a position he will now have to defend rather than chase.
Perico Flies Early, Then Finds His Feet Again
Perico, 27th in the Road to Mallorca Rankings, had the sort of opening that makes a scorecard start grinning. Four birdies in his first five holes sent him roaring into the round, but golf rarely allows a player to sprint unchecked for four hours. It prefers a little negotiation.
The 26-year-old admitted he felt a much lower number was available, but there was satisfaction in the way he managed the emotional temperature of the round. That may prove just as valuable as the birdies.
“It did feel like I was going to go really low,” he said. “I hit the ball really well today, probably the best I’ve hit it in my life in a tournament round.
“The result is the result but I did an incredible process of bringing myself back and focussing on my routine and just being really present so I really enjoyed that.”
That is a mature answer from a player who knows that talent can get you into contention, but temperament decides whether you remain there. Perico did not quite vanish over the horizon, but he did enough to keep his hands on the wheel.
A Final Round With Proper Teeth
Perico has been near this territory before, and he sounds less like a man trying to avoid pressure than one determined to enjoy its unpleasant little charms.
“I’ve been fortunate enough that I’ve been in this position a couple of times now, and there’s nothing to worry about,” he added. “All you want to do is enjoy it.
“I talked with my friends about it that it’s the best feeling in the world when you feel like you can’t breathe and when you’re amped up. It’s what we do it for. It’s just an experience and you take it as it is and you keep going.
“Tomorrow is just going to be more information for me to keep going in the future and keep doing the same thing I’ve been doing the last few weeks.”
There are easier ways to gather information than trying to win a professional golf tournament while your nervous system behaves like a trapped squirrel, but Perico’s point stands. These are the days that shape players.
Chasing Pack Still Close Enough To Cause Mischief
The leaders are two clear, but this is no procession. South Africa’s Louis Albertse and England’s Bradley Bawden sit at 12 under par, close enough to make the final group glance over its shoulder.
At 11 under are Italy’s Jacopo Vecchi Fossa, Serbia’s Tadeas Tetak, Finland’s Tapio Pulkkanen and England’s Ryan Brooks. That group will need something sharp, early and sustained, but Sunday leaderboards have a habit of becoming untidy just when everyone assumes they have read the script.
The final round of the Interwetten Open begins at 7.45am local time, with Mruzek and Perico playing alongside Albertse at 9.24am.
By then, the pleasant Austrian scenery will be doing its best to look serene while a small sporting examination unfolds inside it. Mruzek has found freedom. Perico has found fire. On Sunday, one of them may find the door marked breakthrough.
