Emerson turns up the heat at Hilversum
Leader Gary Emerson began his third round of the KLM Open in Holland in spectacular style by holing his second shot of the day to open up a three-shot advantage.
The Dorset golfer had about 117 yards to the flag and his sand wedge pitched 15 feet from the pin and bounced four times before dropping into the cup for an eagle two.
That took him to 10 under with a two-shot swing over playing partner Paul Broadhurst, who had hit his approach to six feet but lipped out with his birdie putt.
Emerson’s 120-yard approach to the par-four second finished 14 feet from the pin but he just missed the birdie chance and remained at 10 under, with Broadhurst also parring the hole.
Italian Alessandro Tadini remained third on six under after a par at the first and Dutchman Maarten Lafeber holed a 25-foot putt on the third to join him.
Spaniard Miguel Angel Martin moved into the group on five under after he birdied the first while defending champion David Lynn briefly went to four under after a birdie at the sixth but gave the shot back with a five at the 421-yard next.
Motherwell's Steve O'Hara three-putted the third to drop back to four under while Austrian Markus Brier holed a 10-foot putt for birdie on the short fifth to go six under.
Tadini drew level with Broadhurst on seven under after holing a 40-footer on the fourth while, on the same hole minutes later, the two Englishmen both carded par-fours.
Both overshot the 125-yard fifth but while Emerson almost holed a difficult chip back and escaped with par, Broadhurst left himself with a tricky 20-foot putt which he failed to sink.
That left Tadini and Brier, who also birdied the sixth, in joint second on seven under, still three behind leader Emerson.
Surrey’s Anthony Wall holed his second at the 17th for an eagle two but with two bogeys already on his card that only took him back to two under after going out in 32.
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