Birthday boy O’Neill leads by three at Moor Allerton
27/09/2013
Ryan O’Neill will take a three-stroke lead into the final round of the Clipper Logistics Championship as he bids to make it into the top 60 on the 888poker.com PGA Europro Tour Order of Merit.
The Wigan golfer celebrated his 25th birthday with a six-under-par 65 at Moor Allerton to top the leaderboard on ten-under after 36 holes. Billy Hemstock, Ruaidhri McGee, and Greg Payne share second on seven-under.
The Clipper Logistics Championship is the final event of the regular schedule, after which only the top 60 will be invited to play the 888poker.com Tour Championship at Prince’s next month. O’Neill (Penwortham Golf Club) is currently 93rd on the Order of Merit and knows he is likely to need a top-five finish to earn his place in the season finale.
“I need a really good finish as the season hasn’t gone to plan as yet,” he said. “I have done the maths and it is do-able so we will have to wait and see.
“My putting has been really good so far this week. Hopefully it continues as the greens are tricky. There are some slopes in there so if you can get on the right side of the green with your approach you can be a bit more aggressive with the putts.
“You have to pick your lines and go for it. You have to attack the pins enough because it is soft and you can get it relatively close. You have to be on the right side of the green - that is the key.
“I always go in to tournaments thinking I will do well but it doesn’t always happen that way. You can feel good about your game but sometimes something just doesn’t click.
“It can be hard to keep focused on your job when it isn’t quite going for you, it can be frustrating. I came here for a practice round last week and that has definitely helped.
“I took golf up seriously when I was released by Wigan Athletic Football Club when I was 16. I have always loved playing golf and played as a hobby from about 13.”
A cut to the leading 50 players plus ties has now been made with all golfers whose 36-hole score is one-over-par or better proceeding to play the final round on Friday 27 September.
Spectator entry to the event is free throughout the week and a two-hour highlights show will be broadcast at 8pm on Sky Sports 3 on Tuesday 8 October, repeated four times on Wednesday 9 October.
