Road to a Terrific Final at Montgomerie Maxx Royal

The race to victory sped up as the rain took a break on the third day of the Turkish Airlines Open of the European Tour Final Series held at Montgomerie Maxx Royal in Belek. The third day of the $7,000,000 prized tournament held in Turkey for the third time started at 09:00 and was full of action, ending with another leader at the end of the third round.
The golfers started on a rainy day in the morning in Belek. The scheduled start was delayed for an hour after heavy rain and thunderstorm during the night. Weather conditions later gradually improved throughout the afternoon in Belek. Australian Wade Ormsby, who shot a 68 to finish 12-under as he seeks his first European Tour title on his 200th appearance, stepped up to the top with a total of 204 shots. Ian Poulter moved into a six shot lead when the second round was finished with 130 shots in the morning, but Poulter couldn’t continue his brilliant performance later on. Poulter finished the day with 75 shots (+3). Finishing the second round in third place, Ormsby played a solid golf throughout the day.
Ormsby's best finish this season is a tie for fifth in Trophy Hassan II in Morocco and the 34-year-old from Adelaide commented: "It feels great to be in this position. Great tournament, great field, so to be up around the front is great and to be leading it makes me pretty happy. I'm hitting it strong, putting good.” Former World Number One Lee Westwood carded a 67 to finish alongside Ryder Cup teammate Poulter and Germany's Marcel Siem on 11 under. Siem's 66 kept him alive to prevent Rory McIlroy winning The Race to Dubai for the second time in three years.

13 PLAYERS ONE CHAMPION

Lee Westwood was eight shots behind Poulter after the second round but was aided by holing his second shot to the seventh for an eagle as he charged up the leader board.
Marcel Siem, Jamie Donaldson and Sergio Garcia began the week as the only men who could catch McIlroy in The Race to Dubai, and although Garcia carded a perfect 65, Siem has the best chance to keep the battle going to the final week. Brooks Koepka and Dany Willett tied in fifth place with 10-under in total while Miguel Angel Jimenez stayed seventh with 9-under. Shane Lowry, Andy Sullivan, John Daly, Hennie Otto, Eddie Pepperell and Peter Uihlein shared the eighth place with 208 in total each. Felipe Aguilar was slapped with a four-shot penalty following the completion of his second round.  The Chilean replaced a club in his bag between suspension of play in the second round on Friday and the start on Saturday morning.

Numbers of Round 3

5 Eagles at Montgomerie Maxx Royal: one each for Felipe Aguilar, Andy Sullivan, Jonas Blixt, Lee Westwood and Joost Luiten.