Ryan Fox powered his way into pole position on moving day at the Soudal Open as he chases a second DP World Tour title of the 2022 season.
The in-form Kiwi, who has finished no worse than 15th in three starts since winning the Ras Al Khaimah Classic in February, carded a third round of 66 to reach 11 under par, a shot ahead of England’s Sam Horsfield.
In glorious conditions at Rinkven International Golf Club, Fox took a while to warm up as he covered the first ten holes in level par after cancelling out a bogey on the third with a birdie on the next. But the 35 year old’s finish was as hot as the weather as he raced home in just 30 strokes to move to the top of the leaderboard in pursuit of his third DP World Tour title.
Germany’s Yannik Paul sits alone in third on nine under following a 68, with compatriot Marcel Schneider, Fabrizio Zanotti, Niall Kearney and Oliver Bekker all on eight under. Zanotti’s 65 was the lowest score of the day and lifted the 38 year old from Paraguay 36 places up the leaderboard.
Dale Whitnell and Matti Schmid both dug deep to shoot 73 and remain in contention on seven under par along with Paul Waring, Robin Roussel, Andy Sullivan, Chase Hanna and Jorge Campillo.
Player Quotes
Ryan Fox: “I think thanks to talking to you (Tim Barter) actually. I played really solid on the back to be honest, holed a couple putts as well and I hope I figured something out after a couple of scrappy drives early on in the round, and it felt pretty good form the tenth hole onwards. So, hopefully I can take that into tomorrow.
“Just be patient. Try to beat the golf course as well. This is a golf course where you feel like, regardless of how you are playing that you’ve got lots of chances, you can always manage to get a couple of irons in the fairway and still give yourself some wedges, and the greens are rolling lovely and you can hole some putts around here.
“So, you know you are going to make a few mistakes which I have done, I’ve gotten away with a couple this week, I’ve not got away with a few as well, and thankfully made a few birdies to counteract it.
“I have been in contention the last couple of weeks as well and not really done much on Sunday, so I am looking forward to being in the mix again. Obviously, Sam Horsfield is playing some good golf as well, and he is a heck of a player, so hopefully we will have a good tussle tomorrow.”
Sam Horsfield: “It wasn’t the best. I made some really silly mistakes and I definitely had a lot of adrenaline running through me, so I was hitting some shots that were just going so far, so it took me a few holes to get into that, and then made a bad swing off 18 but made a great par.
“It’s really challenging. The wind is swirling everywhere, it caught me out a few times again today, but it is a golf course that when you are in play you can be aggressive into the greens and I think I need to hit more fairways tomorrow.
“It will be fun. I know Foxy (Ryan Fox) pretty well, he is a great dude so it’s going to be fun and really good to battle with him, like you said he definitely hits it far, so there will definitely be some long drives and hopefully we will play well and have some fun.
“It would be really cool to win this week, especially as Mick (caddie) is going through a little bit of a tough time right now, so it would be really cool to win for him and obviously he is not here this week, but I am thinking about him and everything he is going through, so hopefully we get it done tomorrow.
Yannik Paul: “I just tried to stay patient, I hit a lot of good shots on the front nine and hit a lot of good putts, but it just didn’t go in. I made a big save on ten for a par to kind of keep the round going and then tried to stay patient, and lucky we made two nice birdies to end the round.
“I have a strategy that I mapped out at the beginning of the week and no matter the circumstance I always stick to that, so I just try to stay in my own world and stick to my game plan, and see where it ends up.
“I think my game is in a really good spot. In order to win you have to make the putts at the right time but I keep trying to put myself in a good position and some point I hopefully will end up on top.”
Niall Kearney: “Played really well and hit the ball great, was out in three under and I left a couple out there, especially on the front nine as well. I felt like I could have got it going around the back, gave myself a lot of chances but just didn’t hole anything you know.
“I am just striking the ball well. I have done a lot of work the last couple of weeks just to get a little draw back in my game and I am just comfortable again, ball striking is good. I feel like I know where it is going to start and where it is going to curve to, distances are all bang on and I’m pin high a lot of the time now, so giving myself a lot of chances.
“Massive. It’s massive. I am obviously hoping to get more opportunities this year but this is a prime opportunity now going into the fourth day and I just have to keep doing what I am doing, give myself ten of 12 good chances again and hopefully drop the ball in the hole.”
Round Three Scores
202 R FOX (NZL) 68 68 66,
203 S HORSFIELD (ENG) 65 69 69,
204 Y PAUL (GER) 66 70 68,
205 F ZANOTTI (PAR) 70 70 65, M SCHNEIDER (GER) 70 67 68, N KEARNEY (IRL) 69 67 69, O BEKKER (RSA) 67 69 69,
206 P WARING (ENG) 67 73 66, R ROUSSEL (FRA) 68 72 66, C HANNA (USA) 70 68 68, A SULLIVAN (ENG) 71 66 69, J CAMPILLO (ESP) 69 67 70, D WHITNELL (ENG) 65 69 72, M SCHMID (GER) 70 64 72,
207 A HIDALGO (ESP) 68 73 66, G FORREST (SCO) 70 69 68, J DANTORP (SWE) 69 70 68, A OTAEGUI (ESP) 71 67 69, H DU PLESSIS (RSA) 68 69 70, M JORDAN (ENG) 68 68 71,
208 V PEREZ (FRA) 69 69 70, O FARR (WAL) 71 66 71, A MERONK (POL) 66 70 72, R MANSELL (ENG) 69 66 73,
209 R RAMSAY (SCO) 71 70 68, J SJ?HOLM (SWE) 69 72 68, M KAWAMURA (JPN) 70 70 69, S TARRIO (ESP) 71 69 69, J CATLIN (USA) 72 67 70, W BESSELING (NED) 69 69 71, F LAPORTA (ITA) 68 70 71, N ELVIRA (ESP) 66 70 73, A BJ?RK (SWE) 66 70 73, R SANTOS (POR) 69 66 74,
210 J GUERRIER (FRA) 73 68 69, A WU (CHN) 70 71 69, T LAWRENCE (RSA) 71 70 69, A CA?IZARES (ESP) 71 70 69, D HUIZING (NED) 70 71 69, E MOLINARI (ITA) 69 70 71, T PIETERS (BEL) 69 70 71, S CROCKER (USA) 69 69 72,
211 A QUIROS (ESP) 66 74 71, B WIESBERGER (AUT) 68 71 72, V DUBUISSON (FRA) 70 68 73,
212 R KARLBERG (SWE) 71 70 71, R MCEVOY (ENG) 68 71 73, A CHESTERS (ENG) 69 70 73,
213 M SCHMITT (GER) 68 72 73, C SHINKWIN (ENG) 65 74 74,
214 H LONG (GER) 70 71 73, G GREEN (MAS) 67 74 73, D HORSEY (ENG) 75 66 73, R JACQUELIN (FRA) 68 72 74, G MIGLIOZZI (ITA) 69 71 74, E FERGUSON (SCO) 67 72 75, C SYME (SCO) 68 70 76, J HANSEN (DEN) 68 69 77,
215 J GEARY (NZL) 70 71 74, J WINTHER (DEN) 66 74 75, O LIESER (CZE) 70 70 75, L NEMECZ (AUT) 71 69 75, G PORTEOUS (ENG) 70 70 75, L GRINBERG (AM) (UKR) 70 69 76,
217 M SIEM (GER) 70 71 76, J RITCHIE (RSA) 72 65 80,
221 C PIGEM (ESP) 73 68 80,
**
142 M LORENZO-VERA (FRA) 73 69, J MORRISON (ENG) 69 73, P FIGUEIREDO (POR) 71 71, H LEON (CHI) 71 71, G COETZEE (RSA) 71 71, L BJERREGAARD (DEN) 74 68, D DRYSDALE (SCO) 71 71, S BROWN (ENG) 71 71, J JANEWATTANANOND (THA) 70 72, J STALTER (FRA) 70 72,
143 J LAGERGREN (SWE) 74 69, R CABRERA BELLO (ESP) 75 68, P ANGLES (ESP) 74 69, J THOMSON (ENG) 74 69, K JOHANNESSEN (NOR) 73 70, D VAN DRIEL (NED) 69 74, C PAISLEY (ENG) 73 70, W ORMSBY (AUS) 71 72, E KOFSTAD (NOR) 69 74, D COUPLAND (ENG) 72 71,
144 F LACROIX (FRA) 71 73, J DONALDSON (WAL) 74 70, J CALDWELL (NIR) 70 74, J LUITEN (NED) 72 72, D HOWELL (ENG) 71 73, M ANTCLIFF (AUS) 74 70, G FDEZ-CASTA?O (ESP) 74 70, C SORDET (FRA) 73 71, C SHARVIN (NIR) 73 71, J KENNEGARD (SWE) 72 72,
145 G WATREMEZ (BEL) 71 74, D GAVINS (ENG) 73 72, N M?LLER (DEN) 72 73, R GOUVEIA (POR) 72 73, N BERTASIO (ITA) 73 72, J SURI (USA) 71 74, Y VAN DOREN (BEL) 75 70,
146 A ROZNER (FRA) 74 72, O FISHER (ENG) 74 72, S SODERBERG (SWE) 73 73, T DETRY (BEL) 71 75, G HAVRET (FRA) 73 73, L GAGLI (ITA) 75 71, N VON DELLINGSHAUSEN (GER) 75 71, J GONNET (FRA) 76 70, A WILSON (ENG) 70 76, S GALLACHER (SCO) 74 72, R MCGOWAN (ENG) 74 72, E PEPPERELL (ENG) 74 72, Z LOMBARD (RSA) 75 71, A DE BONDT (BEL) 75 71, C ROELAND (AM) (BEL) 69 77, M FORD (ENG) 72 74, T TREE (ENG) 76 70,
147 M SOUTHGATE (ENG) 76 71, S SHARMA (IND) 73 74, B RITTHAMMER (GER) 70 77, G STORM (ENG) 72 75, C BRING (DEN) 74 73, B STONE (RSA) 69 78, S GARCIA RODRIGUEZ (ESP) 73 74, B STOW (ENG) 72 75, L VAN MEIJEL (NED) 69 78, B EASTON (RSA) 77 70,
148 T BJ?RN (DEN) 76 72, L DE JAGER (RSA) 74 74, N COLSAERTS (BEL) 72 76, K ULENAERS (BEL) 70 78, S CHAWRASIA (IND) 70 78, L THEYS (AM) (BEL) 73 75,
149 W NIENABER (RSA) 77 72, L SLATTERY (ENG) 75 74, J SINGH BRAR (ENG) 76 73, C MIVIS (BEL) 76 73,
150 Z MURRAY (AUS) 72 78, A COHEN (ISR) 77 73, J MEYER DE BECO (AM) (BEL) 74 76,
151 B HEBERT (FRA) 79 72, L BUIJS (BEL) 74 77, G SNOW (KEN) 74 77, S CHEGE (KEN) 75 76,
152 R PARATORE (ITA) 75 77, H ZHANG (CHN) 74 78,
155 M WARREN (SCO) 76 79, J SKEET (AM) (BEL) 75 80,
157 N LEMKE (SWE) 80 77,
158 H PORTEOUS (RSA) 79 79,
163 J TOLLENAIRE (AM) (BEL) 76 87,
**
OUT B DREDGE (WAL) 75 RT,