European Tour

Dubai Duty Free Irish Open 2018

July 05-08

Ballyliffin Golf Club, County Donegal

$7,000,000

July 05-08

Ballyliffin Golf Club, County Donegal

$7,000,000

Round 3

Van Rooyen takes control of Irish Open

Round 1

Round 2

Round 4

Round 1

Round 2

Round 4

July 07, 2018

A stunning front nine of six under par 29 saw South African Erik Van Rooyen take control of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open hosted by the Rory Foundation, the big South African establishing a four-shot lead heading into the final round of the fourth Rolex Series event of the European Tour’s 2018 Race to Dubai.

- Getty Images

Van Rooyen threatened to run away with the title during the first half of his third round, carding six birdies in an imperious display over the beautiful links of Ballyliffin Golf Club in County Donegal.

“I wasn't very much aware of my score or the situation on the front nine to be honest. You sometimes get in a groove as a golfer where things just happen and you hit great shots and great putts and that's what happened. It wasn't different on the back nine. It's just different holes, different conditions, different everything. I still played great. Wish I could birdie the two par 5s but I didn't. Looking back, all in all, I think it was a good day. There's 18 holes left to navigate and that's going to be my job tomorrow. Obviously I would love to get a win. But you know, that's 24 hours from now so we will see what happens.”

He followed that brilliant start with nine straight pars on the back nine to allow New Zealander Ryan Fox, Sweden’s Joakim Lagergren, Englishman Danny Willett and Scotland’s Russell Knox retain some hope of catching him and dethroning the reigning champion Jon Rahm.

Lagergren and Fox posted respective third round scores of 69 and 70 to move into a tie for second place on ten under, while 2016 Masters Champion Willett made five birdies on the back nine to post a 69 haul himself back into contention on nine under.

“The weather was a little bit different to what we've kind of had all week and a couple of poor swings early on,`` said Willett. ``But then yeah, I dug in nicely, which was been nice. Turned it around quickly to have a good back nine. A couple of the long-range putts were obviously bonuses. It was nice to see a couple of those go in. Just keep the momentum going, especially when you look at the leaderboard and obviously after a few holes, we were a hell of a long way back. There's still a lot to play for. When you've got such a big lead, it's a tricky place to be. So yeah, just have to wait and see.”

Knox carded 68 to lie one stroke behind Willett and one clear of Englishman Lee Westwood and the French duo of Raphaël Jacquelin and Matthieu Pavon.

But the third round belonged to one man and one man only, with Van Rooyen now set to take that four shot lead into final round as the 28 year old chases his maiden European Tour victory in just his 34th appearance.