European Tour

Made in Denmark 2018

August 30 - September 02

Silkeborg Ry Golf Club, Silkeborg, Denmark

€1,500,000

August 30 - September 02

Silkeborg Ry Golf Club, Silkeborg, Denmark

€1,500,000

Round 3

Vintage Westwood takes control in Denmark

Round 1

Round 2

Round 4

Round 1

Round 2

Round 4

September 01, 2018

Lee Westwood will take a one-shot lead into the final round of the Made in Denmark after a dramatic third day at Silkeborg Ry Golf Club.

- Getty Images

“Thomas doesn't want an old man like me playing, he wants the young kids in! I've played ten and I know when my game is really on song ready for the Ryder Cup and I think there are more people deserving of a pick than me."

A double-bogey at the last after finding water off the tee then dropped him back to 16 under with a 67 and opened the door to the rest of the field.

“I played great all day. I made one bad swing off the 18th tee but it'd be stupid to focus on that as well as I played, I had it under control all day. I'm not thinking any kind of score, I'm just going to try and go out and play like I've been playing. I'm hitting the ball solid and I'm rolling it well on the greens.”

England's Steven Brown fired a brilliant 63 to sit at 15 under alongside countryman Jonathan Thomson and Belgian Thomas Detry, with another Englishman in Matt Wallace a further shot back.

“I actually wasn’t thinking about a number over dinner last night but I had a feeling that it was going to be a good day when I saw the draw and realised I would be playing with Richie McEvoy," saud Brown. "We have played a lot together and are very comfortable playing together so I had a feeling it was going to be an enjoyable day."

“I’m trying not to think about keeping my card at the moment but it is difficult not to. But the past few weeks I have probably been trying too hard and putting too much pressure on myself so I have been trying move away from that and just play golf and see what happens."

“I just need to try and keep moving forward tomorrow. I haven’t been in this position on the European Tour before but I know that I can’t try to just consolidate my position as guys will fly past you on a Sunday if you try and do that. I’m going to have to play well to beat the guys that are up there with me so it will be a case of trying to go out there and get after as much as I can.”

In the race to make the Ryder Cup Team, Thorbjørn Olesen came into the week knowing a two-way tie for seventh or better would guarantee his place at Le Golf National, with Matthew Fitzpatrick needing a victory and hoping that Olesen stumbles.

The Dane carded a 67 to surge up the leaderboard before Fitzpatrick went one better to sit three shots ahead of Olesen but six off the lead.

“It was really good," said Fitzpatrick. "I obviously got off to a pretty fast start – four under through ten – missed a good chance on 11 and then birdied my next two. If it was perfect I would have holed two more putts and I think that's as much as I could have got out of the round but 66 is good. I know that I've just got to go out there and win and make lots of birdies but at the same time I feel like just playing well in general is just what I need to do anyway. Not just talking about Ryder Cup, just for my season alone. I feel like I have played well and just not strung it all together so whether it's this week, next week, two weeks, it's nice to get something going again and get myself up there. A 62 tomorrow would be nice – it's doable.”

Eddie Pepperell could also qualify with a victory but he carded a 74 to sit at three under.

“It was falling day for me. I hit the ball pretty well on the range, probably the best I've hit it. I didn't hit it great off the tee out there but I did feel like I hit my irons a lot better but on the greens – once I set foot on them I don't know what it was like watching but it wasn't professional golf. I would have needed a certain set of circumstances this week which don't look like they're going to happen but when I consider two years ago where I was at to here, it's chalk and cheese, really. This isn't really pressure, this is a pleasure compared to where I was at two years ago. I enjoy playing well and I hate playing badly so being a golfer and being a perfectionist I wouldn't say I find it fun. The good days are good. This is what golf is all about and sport at the highest level is – mostly frustrating and occasionally fantastic. You've just got to make sure you live somewhere in between and keep breathing.”

Westwood has held a 54-hole lead on 24 occasions on the European Tour, claiming 11 of his 23 wins from that position, including his last one at the 2014 Maybank Malaysian Open.

The 45 year old is making his Danish debut this week as he looks for victory in a 14th country on the European Tour but he is ruling out an 11th consecutive Ryder Cup appearance when Bjørn makes his Captain's Picks on Wednesday.