Gutsy Ormsby survives brutal test

Thirteenth Beach today turned all Carnoustie, with stormy winds and sideways rain alternating with bursts of sunshine. It was four seasons a day and it would always open the ISPS Handa Vic Open.

Seven players took the lead in the men's event at different times of a crazy day on the 13th place, where the rounds took almost six hours to complete.

But tomorrow in the last round, there is one: Wade Ormsby, the Adelaide professional who earns his living in Europe, ranked on the 229th place in the world, but is still making his game and finding further improvements.

With 38, Ormsby feels that he has reached the age to play his best golf. So much so that he has a new coach this week, Liam James, and apparently a new decision. He has won tournaments in India and Hong Kong, but never in his native Australia. Tomorrow presents his best chance so far.

Today he had considerable challenges to overcome, especially a disaster in the beginning when he took a bunker shot of the second green and eventually took a double bogey. He had just started a shot of Jason Scrivener from Western Australia and Nick Flanagan from New South Wales. Now he dropped back into the peloton again.

But always-so-steadily Ormsby grew back in the mix as the good professional he is, with birdies on the fifth, ninth, thirteenth and eighteenth. His father Peter, a member of the Australian PGA and a fixture in the Adelaide golf community, would have been proud of his ability to crush a score on a hard day.

With the wind gusts above 60 km / h and the flags deflecting, he crossed a two-under-par 70 which left him at 15-under par two general shots ahead. From that moment on he made in the second place four birds and no bogeys, a fixed wave to say the least.

But there are 15 players within five shots of the leading role in what might be a blanket finish.

They include Matt Stieger from New South Wales (65), who plays his golf at St Michael's in Sydney, where the wind is floating on one side of the ocean and Botany Bay on the other, enjoyed the conditions and said he was hoping for more of the same morning. Remarkably, Stieger started the third round at 6:40 in the first group; Tomorrow he will be in the last group with Ormsby, which is a good number of events.

The Englishman Callum Shinkwin was previously best known for having thrown the Scottish Open in 2017, asked with 66 cases and also in second place, only two shots behind Ormsby.

A shot further at 12-under are the South African Justin Harding (66 today), the Scottish David Law and the Australian-based Australian Brad Kennedy, who was one of seven players who had a lead at one point.

The events of the day were symbolized by events in the par three seventh hole, barely 100 meters but at the height of the course, where the wind shifted the balls to 15 meters from the right, a "brutal" par three, according to Ormsby. "You actually want to take another ball and have a crack," he said.

In the last group, two players – Nick Flanagan and Jason Scrivener – made double bogey in that gap, while Ormsby, who also missed the green left flank, threw a pass. It was the hardest 100 meters in golf for a day, earned its nickname "The Postage Stamp", similar to Royal Throne's famous eighth.

Almost everyone struggled. Lucas Herbert, the best-ranked Australian in the field, started with four bogeys, shot 76 and missed the cut in the third round. Matt Jager started with a triple bogey followed by a double bogey. It was survival of the fittest.

Flanagan started with a part of the lead and shot 76. Scrivener, the other leader of the day, also shot 76, including a penalty for picking up his ball-marker without replacing the ball on the 15th green, an extraordinary brain blur.

Yet there was a great wave, especially from Stieger, the 27-year-old from Sydney. "Coming from St Michael's, I played a lot of golf in the wind," Stieger said. "I'm really crazy about this kind of circumstances: the first day it was not blown at all and I shot one-under! Yesterday it blew in the afternoon and I shot five and today I shot seven (down). and better, I just hope that another day like today would be good. & # 39;

Ormsby said he would not change anything tomorrow; can even turn his eyes away when he sees an electronic sign. "The last time I did not look at the standings, I won," he said. "I think I'll do that tomorrow, I just have to keep doing what I'm doing, and keep churning, especially with this kind of wave, I'd probably prefer it to be a bit windy tomorrow. Well, my putting feels strong and generally I'm a pretty straight hitter. & # 39;

Thirty-six men made the final cut for the varied groups tomorrow, with Geoff Ogilvy (-6) someone who just retired the last day. Two amateurs – David Micheluzzi and Blake Windred – belong to those males who will distribute it.

The weather forecast is better, a day of 26 degrees with some wind. It is almost obvious.

LEADERBOARD

-15 Wade Ormsby (Aust)

-13 Matt Stieger (Aust), Callum Shinkwin (England)

-12 Justin Harding (Sth Africa), David Law (Scotland), Brad Kennedy (Aust)

-11 David Bransdon (Aust), Nicolas Colsaerts (Belgium), Paul Dunne (Ireland)