Scott Henry steps up title bid in Egypt

Scott Henry is in with an outside chance of landing his second Challenge Tour triumph heading into the final round of the Red Sea Egyptian Classic.

The 29-year-old replaced Peter Whiteford as leading Scot at Sokhna Golf Club after carding a third-round 69.

Sitting joint-14th on 10-under, Henry has five shots to make up on the leader, England’s Jordan Smith, in his bid to add to a 2012 Kazakhstan Open victory.

The Clydebank man signed for five birdies, three of which came in the first six holes on a day when the course was pretty defenceless in the morning before the wind picked up for the later starters.

Englishman William Harrold stormed into contention with a best-of-the-day 64, one better than Romain Langasque, the Frenchman who won the Amateur Championship at Carnoustie last year.

Disappointingly for him, Whiteford was one of the few players to the fore at halfway to fail to break par.

A bogey at the last left the Fifer having to settle for a one-over 73, dropping him 27 spots into a tie for 30th.

In contrast, David Law leapt up 15 places after a 68 that contained seven birdies, including four in a row from 11th then two more to finish for a seven-under total.

Ross Cameron, the only other Scot to make it into the final two rounds, had a tough day, running up two double-bogeys in a 77 to slip to two-over.

Smith maintained his position at the top of the leaderboard with a gritty performance to reach 15-under-par with a 70.

He holds a two-shot lead over Switzerland’s Joel Girrbach (68) with Langasque, who is making his professional debut, and Harrold among six players a shot further back.

“It was a battle out there today,” said Smith, a 23-year-old who topped the PGA EuroPro Tour money-list last year.

“The wind picked up which made it very difficult. I got off to a good start and I just missed a lot of short putts, so it could have been really good but I am really pleased to keep that steady score going.”