European Challenge Tour

Monaghan Irish Challenge 2018

October 04-07

Concra Wood Golf Club, Castleblayney, County Monaghan, Ireland

€180,000

October 04-07

Concra Wood Golf Club, Castleblayney, County Monaghan, Ireland

€180,000

Round 3

Lemke leads the way in Ireland

Round 1

Round 2

Round 4

Round 1

Round 2

Round 4

October 06, 2018

Niklas Lemke will take a one-shot lead into the final round of the Monaghan Irish Challenge after carding a bogey-free three under par round of 69.

- Getty Images

The Swede followed up his opening rounds of 70 and 67 with a blemish-free round of 69 to retain the lead at Concra Wood Golf Club, increasing his chance of winning his first European Challenge Tour title.

Having birdied the first hole on the opening two days, the 34 year old continued the trend to move to eight under par with the early pacesetters.

The lead changed hands throughout the day as Robert MacIntyre, Santos and Wilson battled for pole position. However, Lemke remained calm and patient, parring the second hole through to the 16th.

With Wilson a group ahead and finishing on nine under par, Lemke made successive gains on his final two holes to move ahead and take a one stroke advantage into the final round.

“I got off to a quick start with a birdie on the first,” he said. “Then I played pretty solid and got close to the hole, but mainly had downhill putts and no great chances. I made a crucial up-and-down on 16 to save par, then I got lucky with two birdies on the last two holes.

“The wind was a little bit swirly, but I think it was a combination of the wind and the cold, which made things tricky, especially towards the end when the ball wasn’t going as far. It is a tricky course and it was tough out there.

“I’m feeling good ahead of tomorrow. There are going to be strong winds during the day, so I will make time to hit a couple of drivers on the range in the morning because I didn’t have my best game with me today, but it turned out pretty good anyway.”

Wilson, who won the Swedish Challenge hosted by Robert Karlsson in August, will hope to continue his good work during the final round, having signed for a bogey-free round of 68, four under par, to sit in second place.

MacIntyre and Santos lie a shot behind the Englishman to stay in contention, while Hill, who was part of the leading overnight trio, slipped back following his one over par round of 73. Irishman Kevin Phelan leads the charge for the home crowd, sitting in 12th place as he shot the low round of the day, a five under par round of 67.