Portugal Masters: Brandon Stone steady and strong to take 54-hole lead

Brandon Stone holds a two-shot lead ahead of the final round of the Portugal Masters, and he is one of five South Africans inside the top eight.

Brandon Stone carded his third consecutive round of 66 around the Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course in Vilamoura, to move past overnight leader Oliver Fisher and into the lead at -15.

The South African’s day started with a bogey on the 3rd, but he battled back to hit six birdies in the rest of his third round, including four on the back nine.

His 66-66-66 sees him two shots clear of the pack going into the final day, with Fisher and a fellow South African in a tie for second place.

The Englishman had started his week with two rounds of 65, but he could only manage a round of 70 on Saturday, but it could have been much worse.

Fisher, who shot the only ever sub-60 round on the European Tour at this event last year, had a run of three straight bogeys on his front nine to fall to -9. However, four birdies in a row on his back nine saw the Englishman move back up to -13, and two behind Stone.

He is joined by the second South African in Dean Burmester, who carded his second consecutive round of 65 after an opening day 70 in Vilamoura, with 65 being the low score on Saturday

“Burmy” shot five birdies, a bogey and an eagle on Saturday, including this wonderful up-and-down for a birdie 4 at the par-5 12th hole.

Steven Brown sits a further shot behind the pair in solo 4th place, after carding a joint-low round of 65 on day three, moving himself inside the top ten with 18 left to play.

Four shots off the lead are three more South Africans, in George Coetzee, Justin Walters and Haydn Porteous. The latter carded a 69 on day three, while Coetzee went one better.

Meanwhile, Walters could only manage a level-par round on Saturday, just like Jeunghun Wang, with the South Korean alongside the trio at -11.

Matt Wallace had a fine day on Saturday, carding a 66 to move inside the top ten. He sits at -10, five back from the lead, alongside fellow Englishman Eddie Pepperell and Tom Lewis, the reigning champion.

Frenchman Adrien Saddier and Italy’s Renato Paratore are also in that group in a tie for 9th, with Pablo Larrazabal and Darren Fichardt a further shot back.

It was a good day for Portugal’s Tomas Santos Silva, whose 66 saw him move into the top 20. He is now the leading man playing on home soil, sitting two shots ahead of Tiago Cruz, who could only manage a 73 at Dom Pedro Victoria on Saturday.

Further down the list and it was a bad day for Joachim Hansen, who dropped 35 places on Saturday, as his three-over-par round of 74 saw him fall out of the top 20 and into a tie for 54th.

Englishman Chris Wood had the worst day of all, though, as his 77 sees him drop to +5 for the tournament, with every other golfer who made the cut at level-par or better.

Back to the top and looking ahead to tomorrow and Brandon Stone will be aiming to take his fourth European Tour victory. The 26-year-old will tee off alongside countryman Dean Burmester in an all-South African final group.

‘Mr.59’ Oliver Fisher and Steven Brown will be in the all-English penultimate group, with a second duo of South Africans out ahead of them, in Porteous and Coetzee.

Can Stone go on to take victory on Sunday, and if not, will one of his countrymen go on to take the title? Could Brown or Walters take their maiden victory?

More importantly for some, the race for 117th comes to a head tomorrow, and Walters is also in that scrap. Jeunghun Wang also needs a good day to retain his Tour card. Anything could happen on Sunday in Vilamoura!

Leaderboard:

1 (-15): Brandon Stone (RSA)

T2 (-13): Dean Burmester (RSA), Oliver Fisher (ENG)

4 (-12): Steven Brown (ENG)

T5 (-11): George Coetzee Haydn Porteous, Justin Walters (all RSA), Jeunghun Wang (KOR)

T9 (-10): Matt Wallace, Tom Lewis, Eddie Pepperell (all ENG), Renato Paratore (ITA), Adrien Saddier (FRA)

Selected Others:

T17 (-7): Tomas Santos Silva (POR), Andy Sullivan (ENG), Shubhankar Sharma (IND)

T33 (-5): Jamie Donaldson (WAL), Tiago Cruz (POR), Guido Migliozzi (ITA)

T39 (-4): Romain Wattel (FRA), Matin Kaymer (GER), Jake McLeod (AUS)

T47 (-3): Ryan Fox (NZL), Min Woo Lee (AUS)

T54 (-2): Lee Westwood (ENG), Adrian Otaegui (ESP), Sihwan Kim (USA)