Tommy Fleetwood defied relentless rain to move within two shots of leader Robert Rock after a third day of dismal weather at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club.
The heavens opened early on Saturday morning and did not relent throughout the day, with a saturated Rock holing out for par in near darkness shortly after 6pm as he signed for a one-over 72, which was enough to earn him the 54-hole lead on nine under par – two clear of Fleetwood and Ian Poulter.
Fleetwood carded a brilliant round of 69 to move up the leaderboard and will tee it up in final group tomorrow alongside Rock and Australian Wade Ormsby. Fleetwood is joined at seven under par alongside Ryder Cup teammate Poulter, who battled to a 73, Marcus Kinhult (71) and Ormsby (70).
Adri Arnaus, Victor Dubuisson and Gavin Green shared the lowest rounds of the day with a trio of 67s to sit at five under alongside Andy Sullivan, who recorded a 69. Home favourite Robert MacIntyre carded a 68 to sit in a group of 12 players at four under, including fellow Scotsmen Grant Forrest and Marc Warren, and Brandon Stone and first round leader Lee Westwood.
Rock left the course on Saturday night without speaking to the media after appearing unhappy with being forced to finish his round in fading light, but Fleetwood was more forthcoming. He said: “I loved every minute of it. There was a period early doors where it was playable and I think as the rain got worse, obviously you get wetter and the day gets a bit longer. It was pretty relentless. Normally you get maybe a downpour, but the rain didn’t stop for half a second and just got progressively worse throughout day. It was pretty tough towards the end. The golf shots I was hitting, you have to give yourself a pat on the back sometimes.”
Poulter, who is bidding to win on the European Tour for the first time since 2012, said: “This golf course, in this weather, tests everything that you have. You’ve got all shots from the archives you haven’t hit for a while. It’s miserable, it’s wet, but we’re playing golf for a lot of money. So we just need to dry off and go again tomorrow. I’m going to say it was a massive mental challenge, and we needed all of the greenkeepers help to get us here. They were squeegeeing hard the last few holes to get us in to close of play today. It’s not easy, but I’m in contention. Rocky [Robert Rock] has obviously shot an incredible round of golf today, to shoot that in those conditions. We’re in touching distance. That’s all I can ask for.”
For the full leaderboard, click here.