Late birdie blitz catapults Robinson into contention

James Maw and Liam Robinson share a one-stroke lead on 11 under par going into the final round of the MarHall.com Scottish Classic on the 888poker.com PGA Europro Tour.

Robinson finished his second round with four consecutive birdies to sign for a seven-under 63 while Maw added a 68 to his opening day 61 to maintain a share of the lead ahead of the final round at Mar Hall near Glasgow.

Sam Robertshawe and Billy Hemstock are tied third on ten under par after 36 holes with three golfers tied fifth, three off the pace on eight under.

Maw, based at Abbeydale Golf Club in Sheffield, had equalled the Mar Hall course record on Wednesday just ten minutes after Gary King had signed for the same record score, taking three strokes off the previous best.

The 23-year-old was out early on Thursday and began strongly with a birdie on the first. However, a double bogey six on the fourth was followed by a four on the par-three fifth.

A run of eight consecutive pars steadied his score and he made amends for the earlier dropped shots with a birdie at 14, an eagle on the 15th and a final birdie at 16.

Robinson (Enterprise Sports Management) began his second round on four under at the tenth tee and progressed his score quickly with a birdie at 14 and an eagle on the 15th, but it was his finish which earned him a place in the final group for Friday’s last round.

“Four birdies isn’t a bad way to finish,” he said. “I played the first as my tenth and three-putted it from four feet for par, so I scrambled well then and got my head around it for the last four holes.

“It was my wedge play that did it really. I hit three wedges quite close and it was a good putt for birdie on the last.

“I’ll approach the final round the same as any other day. I will come in, keep calm and stick to my game plan because that has worked for me in the first two rounds.

“You can only determine what you do so I won’t keep an eye on other scores, I will just focus on my own game. When I go passed the leaderboards I will have a quick look, because it is nice to know, but I won’t be making a big deal of it.”

Robertshawe (Army Golf Club) carded the day’s best round, shooting an eight-under 62 to propel himself up the leaderboard to a tie for third on ten under.

Hemstock (Teignmouth Golf Club) opened with a six-under 64 on Wednesday and followed it up with a 66 on Thursday. A bogey at ten was the only blot on a card of five birdies and 12 pars.

Shaun McAllister (Craigielaw Golf Club), Sebi Garcia (Golf de Poniente Mallorca) and Paul Shields (Kirkhill Golf Club) are tied fifth on eight under.

A cut to the leading 50 players plus ties has now been made and all golfers with a 36-hole score of three under par or better will proceed to play Friday’s final round.

Following the MarHall.com Scottish Classic the top five players on the 888poker.com PGA EuroPro Tour Order of Merit will be invited to play in the Northern Ireland Open on the Challenge Tour, along with the top five placed Irish nationals on the Order of Merit.

Spectator entry to the course is free throughout the week and a two-hour highlights package will air on Sky Sports HD on Tuesday, August 20, repeated four times the following day.