Bob MacIntyre keeps himself in British Masters mix by salvaging par in round that 'could have been 80-odd'

It’s tight at the top heading into the final round of the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo at The Belfry. Six players are tied for the lead and the top 22, including Bob MacIntyre and Calum Hill, are separated by just three shots.

Bob MacIntyre looks on during day three of the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo at The Belfry. Picture: Kate McShane/Getty Images.

If the wind blows again for the closing circuit at the Ryder Cup venue, even someone a bit further back could sneak up on the rails, though, on the evidence so far this week, it’s going to take something special for anyone to go really low on the Brabazon Course.

“I love this place,” declared MacIntrye of a venue that will forever be synonymous with Sam Torrance for his iconic celebration after holing the winning putt in the1985 Ryder Cup then leading Europe to victory over the Americans in 2002.

“I spoke to someone - I won’t say who - who thought it was going to be really easy this week. It’s an old school golf course. Distance might kill it if it goes flat calm but, when there’s a bit of breeze, it’s a good test and that’s all you need.”

Calum Hill in action during the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo The Belfry. Picture: Andrew Redington/Getty Images.

Sharing that lead on seven under are English trio Andy Sullivan, Oliver Wilson and James Morrison, Dutchman Joost Luiten, Italy’s Guido Migliozzi and Dane Niklas Norgaard. German Max Kieffer sits one behind, three players are on five under then a posse of players on four under include MacIntyre, Hill and Justin Rose.

On a day when he really struggled with a driver in his hands, MacIntyre was delighted to sign for a level-par 72. “That could have been 80-odd today as it was that bad off the tee,” he reported afterwards. “I was laughing about it all the way round - except the one that went out of bounds.” That was at the 13th, where he sliced one towards the A446. “I think it was over the road - one of the worst I’ve hit in a long time,” added the Oban man.

That MacIntyre kept himself in the tournament - he’ll have star attraction Rose as his playing partner in the final round - was down to a combination of his short game being tickety boo and not allowing himself to become frazzled, annoyed or angry.

“Today was down to attitude, determination, fight, the lot. I had to,” said the 26-year-old, who tied for eighth behind Richard Bland in this event at the same venue two years ago. “As I said to Greg (Milne, his caddie) coming down the last few holes, attitude is everything in this game and I kind of realised that more than ever this week. Proud of the way we fought there and to get in there at level par gives us a chance tomorrow.”

On a day of carnage - Frenchman Antoine Rozner was tied for the lead on nine-under until running up a quadruple-bogey 8 at the tenth, where he laid up but then dumped two wedges in the water - Hill had the wind taken out of his sails early on when running up a double-bogey 7 at the third.

But, helped by some “phenomenal diving”, the 28-year-old hauled himself back into the mix by picking up six birdies, including four in a row from the tenth, thereafter as he signed for a 69.

“If I could just replay three holes, I would be really happy,” said Hill of also dropping shots at the 12th and 13th. “If you gave me three-under at the start of the day, I would have been a bit annoyed but I wouldn’t have been wanting to replay it. It’s a pretty good round, it was quite windy and it still gives me a chance for a low one tomorrow.”

His sights are set on one of three spots up for grabs in the upcoming 151st Open at Royal Liverpool, where MacIntyre, Richie Ramsay, Ewen Ferguson and Connor Syme are already in the field through their top-30 finishes in last season’s Race to Dubai.

“It will probably have to be a top five this week to get one of the spots,” predicted Hill. “Maybe a top ten next week (in the Made in Himmerland in Denmark) could sneak in and then a top 15 in the Scottish Open. But I need a good week one of these three.”

Sullivan, a former Scottish Open Stroke-Play champion, rolled in an outrageous 40-foot downhiller to sign off with a birdie, having also picked up a shot at the par-5 17th to be part of the logjam at the top of the leaderboard.

“I'm buzzing. I'm absolutely buzzing,” said the Midlander of setting up a chance to land a fifth DP World Tour title but first since 2015. “I can't wait. I'm not going to lie, I'll probably go have a little beer right now to calm down. It's been so nice to see so many friendly faces out there. I'm going to enjoy it.”

Luiten let the BMW International Open title slip out of his hands after taking a three-shot lead into the final round in Munich last weekend. “Yeah, it took a couple days to get over that one,” admitted the Dutchman. “But, once the tournament started here, I just said to myself, all right, just forget it and move on.”

Rose reckons he probably needs a repeat of his opening 65 to have a chance of repeating his 2002 win at Woburn. “Every time I had a wedge in my hand, I turned scoring opportunities into a couple bogeys - that was the big change of what could have been a decent round into a poor round,” said the world No 31.

Ferguson, David Law and Ramsay sit on three, two and under respectively after they all shot 73s, but Grant Forrest (75) and Syme (76) are in black figures after slipping to one and four over respectively.