Oliver Wilson will take a three stroke lead into the final round of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, but the Englishman has World Number One Rory McIlroy looking to spoil his hopes of a fairy tale first European Tour title.
Wilson is a nine-time runner up on The European Tour and played in The 2008 Ryder Cup, but he has slipped to 792nd in the Official World Golf Ranking after a difficult couple of years and now plays mainly on the European Challenge Tour.
That would all change though should he capture a breakthrough win at St Andrews, with the 34 year old charging clear of the field on 15 under par following a superb round of 65 over the famous Old Course.
However, four-time Major Champion McIlroy is lurking ominously after a round of 64 moved the Northern Irishman up to 12 under par and into a share of second place with Englishman Tommy Fleetwood, who fired a stunning ten under par 62, and French pair Alexander Levy and Raphaël Jaquelin, who signed for rounds of 68 and 69 respectively.
A week after helping Europe to Ryder Cup glory at Gleneagles, McIlroy is also hoping for a fairy tale of his own, as his father Gerry, who is playing alongside him in the team part of the Pro-Am format, celebrates his 55thbirthday on Sunday at the Home of Golf.
Key Player quotes
Oliver Wilson
“I know my game is way, way better than what people from the outside would probably consider how I’ve been playing. But, the truth of the matter is, those are my results.
“To come here, when you feel like you’ve been written off a little bit, to prove to people that I’m still there means a lot.
“I’ve been playing pretty good in practice for a while. I think coming to a place like this, coming to the Dunhill Links, which is a fantastic tournament, the atmosphere, great courses – that all helps.”
Rory McIlroy
“I got off to a really fast start and I was trying to keep it going, and I sort of did through the turn. But the last four holes weren’t really what I wanted. But any time you shoot a score like that around St. Andrews, you have to be happy. I got myself into contention going into tomorrow, and Dad and I are going to get to play St. Andrews on his birthday, which will be a huge treat for both of us.”
Tommy Fleetwood
“It was a beautiful way to spend a Saturday. You didn’t see any scores like that when we were waiting in the clubhouse to get out there, when it was just so cold and damp and windy. I just got a really good spell in the middle of the round and I kept it going. My putting was just on fire really and ten under par is great.”
Complete third round scores
201 O Wilson (Eng) 64 72 65,
204 A Levy (Fra) 68 68 68, R McIlroy (Nir) 73 67 64, T Fleetwood (Eng) 69 73 62, R Jacquelin (Fra) 65 70 69,
205 R Palmer (USA) 69 68 68, C Wood (Eng) 70 69 66, R Ramsay (Sco) 69 68 68,
206 G Coetzee (RSA) 71 67 68, R Derksen (Ned) 73 70 63, L Oosthuizen (RSA) 70 74 62,
207 R Sterne (RSA) 73 66 68, S Lowry (Irl) 66 70 71, B Koepka (USA) 70 73 64, M Hoey (Nir) 72 70 65, S Gallacher (Sco) 68 70 69, C Doak (Sco) 70 67 70, P Harrington (Irl) 66 70 71,
208 R Karlsson (Swe) 72 68 68, P Casey (Eng) 69 73 66, M Siem (Ger) 69 71 68, A Cañizares (Esp) 72 71 65,
209 A Otaegui (Esp) 67 75 67, O Fisher (Eng) 74 69 66, J Parry (Eng) 68 73 68, B Wiesberger (Aut) 71 71 67, H Otto (RSA) 69 70 70, B Stone (RSA) 72 67 70, J McLeary (Sco) 67 72 70, P Lawrie (Sco) 69 72 68, G Bourdy (Fra) 67 71 71, S Hansen (Den) 72 68 69,
210 M Foster (Eng) 68 72 70, G Storm (Eng) 68 72 70, T Jaidee (Tha) 71 71 68, E Els (RSA) 71 74 65, R Green (Aus) 68 71 71, R Evans (Eng) 67 74 69, M Nixon (Eng) 70 70 70, D Howell (Eng) 70 72 68, B Grace (RSA) 76 65 69, F Aguilar (Chi) 71 67 72, T Aiken (RSA) 71 70 69, D Fichardt (RSA) 73 72 65, R Rock (Eng) 67 76 67,
211 P McGinley (Irl) 72 70 69, R Gonzalez (Arg) 69 70 72, G Havret (Fra) 74 71 66, T Pieters (Bel) 73 73 65, R Fisher (Eng) 73 73 65, E Grillo (Arg) 72 73 66, P Uihlein (USA) 73 69 69, C Lee (Sco) 71 71 69, N Elvira (Esp) 71 72 68, M Carlsson (Swe) 74 70 67, M Warren (Sco) 73 70 68, E Molinari (Ita) 73 68 70,
212 N Fasth (Swe) 72 71 69, R Bland (Eng) 71 71 70, A Saddier (Fra) 72 73 67, M Kieffer (Ger) 72 70 70, G Stal (Fra) 69 75 68, P Larrazábal (Esp) 71 73 68, N Dougherty (Eng) 72 69 71, G Porteous (Eng) 74 67 71, J Kruger (RSA) 75 71 66, L Bjerregaard (Den) 74 68 70, S Kapur (Ind) 70 72 70, J Scrivener (Aus) 72 72 68, F Molinari (Ita) 74 70 68, A Sullivan (Eng) 70 71 71, T Olesen (Den) 71 70 71,
213 J Quesne (Fra) 72 73 68, S Faldo (Eng) 71 72 70, T Lewis (Eng) 71 73 69, E De La Riva (Esp) 67 76 70, S Jamieson (Sco) 70 72 71, J Walters (RSA) 69 73 71, J Morrison (Eng) 72 70 71, D Willett (Eng) 74 70 69, M Ilonen (Fin) 74 71 68, P Lawrie (Irl) 70 73 70, A Wall (Eng) 73 70 70, D McGrane (Irl) 75 70 68, B Rumford (Aus) 74 73 66, F Zanotti (Par) 73 71 69, N Cullen (Aus) 73 70 70, R Wattel (Fra) 72 71 70, S Khan (Eng) 71 71 71, S Hutsby (Eng) 73 71 69, A Hansen (Den) 75 69 69, A Hall (Aus) 71 70 72,
214 H Porteous (RSA) 75 73 66, M Crespi (Ita) 73 70 71, N Holman (Aus) 71 74 69, C Montgomerie (Sco) 72 71 71, M Bremner (RSA) 73 71 70, P Whiteford (Sco) 74 71 69, R Finch (Eng) 72 70 72, D McKenzie (Aus) 70 74 70, A Johnston (Eng) 75 76 63, J Luiten (Ned) 72 70 72,
215 S Wakefield (Eng) 77 71 67, S Dyson (Eng) 73 71 71, T Hatton (Eng) 71 76 68, V Dubuisson (Fra) 71 69 75,
216 D Drysdale (Sco) 71 72 73, J Dantorp (Swe) 72 72 72, G Maybin (Nir) 72 74 70, M Manassero (Ita) 72 75 69, K Phelan (Irl) 73 71 72, R Kakko (Fin) 71 75 70, M Lampert (Ger) 72 73 71, C Schwartzel (RSA) 75 71 70, R Karlberg (Swe) 77 74 65, P Waring (Eng) 71 72 73,
217 R De Smidt (RSA) 75 71 71, M Kaymer (Ger) 74 72 71, R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 77 72 68, M Madsen (Den) 72 77 68, A Pavan (Ita) 72 75 70, S Webster (Eng) 72 76 69, A Quiros (Esp) 71 77 69,
218 S Lyle (Sco) 71 77 70, K Horne (RSA) 71 75 72, J Harding (RSA) 75 74 69, T Fisher Jnr (RSA) 70 73 75,
219 S Thornton (Irl) 73 71 75, J Carlsson (Swe) 71 74 74, E Pepperell (Eng) 75 72 72, U Van Den Berg (RSA) 71 73 75, J Hansen (Den) 73 74 72,
220 W Ormsby (Aus) 75 72 73, E Goya (Arg) 75 74 71, M Baldwin (Eng) 77 71 72, D Clarke (Nir) 71 75 74, D Horsey (Eng) 74 75 71, D Huizing (Ned) 75 73 72, L De Jager (RSA) 76 74 70,
221 L Slattery (Eng) 75 75 71, T Lawrence (RSA) 68 73 80, S Kjeldsen (Den) 73 76 72, M Anguiano (USA) 71 74 76, J Campillo (Esp) 73 75 73, D Duval (USA) 78 70 73, J Hahn (USA) 73 74 74,
222 F Calmels (Fra) 73 73 76, D Brooks (Eng) 75 73 74, S Manley (Wal) 76 74 72, S Benson (Eng) 71 77 74, R Santos (Por) 72 78 72,
223 D Van Tonder (RSA) 72 78 73, J Kingston (RSA) 76 76 71, J Wilson (Aus) 74 77 72, S Kim (Kor) 78 73 72,
224 J Granberg (Fin) 75 71 78, C Del Moral (Esp) 71 77 76, A Hartø (Den) 77 72 75, M Griffin (Aus) 73 74 77, J Singh (Ind) 76 75 73,
225 V Riu (Fra) 74 75 76,
226 O Bekker (RSA) 79 76 71,
227 T Levet (Fra) 77 76 74,
229 M Lundberg (Swe) 77 80 72,
232 B Ninyette (Aus) 79 76 77, J Jeong (Kor) 77 76 79,
237 D Papadatos (Aus) 80 78 79,
** K Broberg (Swe) RT 0 0,
