Bryce Easton hit the front on Saturday with a superb six-under-par 66 taking him to the top of the leaderboard after the third round of the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final supported by The R&A at Club de Golf Alcanada in Port d’Alcúdia, Mallorca, Spain.
It was a round in which Easton needed to pull out all the stops in the last weekend of play on the Challenge Tour this season, as the top 20 on the Challenge Tour rankings tomorrow night will earn themselves cards to play on the DP World Tour in the 2023 season. With his seven birdies and just one bogey, Easton was projected to rise 31 places to seventh on the list.
He shared the lead going into the final round with England’s Nathan Kimsey, and is nicely set going into the final round to wrap up his playing privileges at the end of a lengthy campaign to get onto one of the world’s premier tours. Kimsey also carded a six-under-par 66, the best round of the day together with Easton’s effort.
They led by one from Matthew Baldwin of England with Sweden’s Oscar Lengden and Frenchman Adrien Saddier in a share of fourth on five-under.
Easton made two birdies and a bogey on the front nine, but he was flawless with five birdies – on 10,12, 13, 15 and 16 on his way home as he climbed five places on the leaderboard on a day when it was all on the line.
Deon Germishuys carded a one-under-par 71 to move to two-over for the tournament and a share of 23rd. He was projected to drop six places to 23rd, so he will be looking for a strong finish on Sunday to claw his way back into the top 20 on the rankings.
In a share of 40th in the 45-man field was JC Ritchie, who is all but assured of his DP World Tour card. He was projected to drop to fifth from second place on the rankings on his current showing.
For Easton, it will be a question of holding things together in the final round to solidify his position and win his card.
