Evergreen Craig Lee shares lead in Scottish Challenge at 'fiddly' Newmachar

Craig Lee, one of the oldest players in the field, shares the lead heading into the final round of the Farmfoods Scottish Challenge presented by The R&A as a “fiddly” test at Newmachar left him feeling as though he’s on a level playing field with big-hitting youngsters.

Craig Lee acknowledges the crowd during the third round of the Farmfoods Scottish Challenge presented by The R&A at Newmachar. Picture: Five Star Sports Agency

On a windy and sometimes showery day in the North-East, 46-year-old Lee carded an impressive bogey-free five-under-par 66, having birdied the second, fifth and sixth on the outward journey on the Hawkshill Course before adding an eagle-3 at the 16th.

The eye-catching effort moved him to nine-under alongside English left-hander Sam Bairstow, who also took route 66, on a packed leaderboard in the £230,000 event, with no less than 22 players being separated by four shots.

“It was quite a strong finish,” admitted Lee. “I had little ruling on the par-5 16th as there was a sprinkler between me and the hole and I wanted to putt it. But I didn’t get relief as my ball was in the semi-rough, so I chipped in (laughing). That jumped me up the leaderboard quite quickly, but I played really steady.”

The Stirling man secured this opportunity - a start in last week’s British Challenge at St Mellion as well - as part of his reward for winning The PGA Play-Offs in Cyprus earlier in the year. He’s also played in the Betfred British Masters on the DP World Tour and has starts to come there in the ISPS Handa World Invitational, Horizon Irish Open and BMW PGA Championship.

“Last kind of five rounds I’ve hit the ball really nicely, so it is trending in the right direction,” he added. “I’m really fortunate as it’s a great schedule and there couldn’t have been a better time to find some form. If I can keep up this form, I’ll be delighted.”

Lee, who lost to Thomas Bjorn in a play-off in the 2013 Omega European Masters in Switzerland, laughed when he was asked if it would be appropriate to describe him as a ‘veteran’. “I think ten years ago you could call me that,” he replied.

“It is very hard to keep up with these young kids. I’m pretty much going first all the time into par-4s and I’m taking headcovers off as they hit mid-irons. It is quite hard, but this kind of course probably suits me better as it is a bit fiddly and guys can’t hit too many drivers, so it probably plays into my hands a bit.”

Bairstow, a 25-year-old who made his professional debut in last year’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, matched Lee’s bogey-free performance as he carded birdies at the first, ninth, 11th, 16th and 18th. “Yeah, just played steady,” reported the 25-year-old Sheffield man. “I hit it a lot better than the last two days, having put myself in a bit of trouble whereas today I was in most of the fairways, which was nice.”

On a day when American Jordan Gumberg, the overnight leader, dropped a shot at the last to slip one behind, David Law rallied late on with two birdies in the last five holes to have the summit in sight on seven-under, one ahead of three other home players in Kieran Cantley, Daniel Young and Jack McDonald and a further shot in front of Sandy Scott.