Last time Gary Lockerbie led a golf tournament after 54 holes, he went on to win. That was at the honored Lytham Trophy two years ago when the Lockerbie was still an amateur.
The 24-year-old from Penrith is the joint-leader on 12-under 204 with China’s Liang Wenchong after shooting a three-under 69 in the third round yesterday.
Hot on their heels is India’s Jyoti Randhawa, who is one shot behind on 205 after returning an even-par 72 yesterday.
The European Tour rookie will be hoping for the same fairytale finish when he tees off in the final group of the Clariden Leu Singapore Masters today.
Ireland’s Peter Lawrie and Malaysia’s Iain Steel are joint-third on 206.
Asked if he would feel the butterflies in his stomach when he stands on the first tee today, Lockerbie said: ‘This is a bit of a new experience for me, but I’m sure I’ll be fine.’
If not for a bogey on the closing 18th hole at Laguna National’s Masters course yesterday, the 2003 English amateur champion would have taken the outright lead for the US$1.1 million ($1.68m) European Tour and Asian Tour co-sanctioned event.
Starting the day at nine-under, Lockerbie, who turned pro in 2005, moved to 11-under after seven holes with birdies on the third and fifth holes. Then his drive found the water on the par-three eighth hole, resulting in a double-bogey. But he picked himself up and collected three birdies in the next four holes before dropping a shot on the par-four 14th. Another two birdies on the 16th and the tough par-three 17th gave him the outright lead going into the last hole. But Lockerbie missed a six-foot par putt to take the gloss off a stellar performance. He said: ‘It was a pity about the 18th, but I would definitely have taken being tied for the lead after today. ‘I would have taken a 69 today as well so I am just going to forget about what happened at the last. ‘I think the birdie I made down the 17th was a bit of a bonus anyway so that is what happens.’ No matter what happens today, Lockerbie can be proud of his performance this week. This time last year, he was still playing on the Challenge Tour in Europe. Missing only four cuts from 24 events, Lockerbie finished 13th in the rankings and gained entry into the European Tour as a result.
But his results so far have been anything but impressive. He missed the cut in five of his first seven events but perhaps it is worth noting that in the two events where he made the weekend play, he finished in the top 10. He came in eighth at the South African Airways Open in December and fifth at the Malaysian Maybank Open last month. However, winning is not the foremost thing on his mind right now. He said: ‘I am just trying to secure a card for next year. ‘As for tomorrow, I’m not going to do anything different from what I have done this week. ‘I will try hard but not too hard because if you try too hard that is when things start going wrong. ‘I will try to get off to a steady start and not try to do anything fancy because I don’t think it takes a really low score to win tomorrow. ‘If I can knock it round in three- or four-under, I’m not going to be far away.’
