Eugenio Chacarra made the most of Moving Day at the KLM Open to share the third-round lead with Sebastian Söderberg on ten under par after a busy Saturday.
Related: Sebastian Soderberg edges ahead at KLM Open
Söderberg battled with Japan’s Yuto Katsuragawa for much of the day but four birdies on the back nine saw Chacarra surge to the top with a round of 65. Marcus Armitage was a shot off the lead with Katsuragawa sharing fourth place.
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With the tournament still making up time lost to storms and high winds on day one, the second round was completed in the morning before the 75 players making the cut got through their third round.
Söderberg held a one-shot lead over France’s Julien Guerrier after 36 holes, with Katsuragawa a shot further back along with Callum Tarren and Daniel Hillier. Chacarra had been back at four under but began his round with a hat-trick of birdies after hitting all three approaches inside five feet.
The Spaniard delivered further birdies at nine, 11, 14 and 17 before another closing birdie earned him a share of the lead after his lengthy eagle attempt narrowly missed the hole, leaving a simple tap-in.
Katsuragawa briefly made it a three-way tie thanks to a long birdie putt over a ridge at the 16th, only to drop back with a double-bogey at the last after finding thick rough and then water down the left.
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Söderberg battled his way home with eight straight pars to hold on to a share of the lead with Chacarra. Armitage was nine under after a 67, with Katsuragawa joining Maximilian Steinlechner and Oliver Lindell on eight under.
Guerrier, Jordan Gumberg and Angel Ayora were a shot further back with Joe Dean, Brandon Robinson Thompson and Calum Hill sharing tenth place on six under.
Player quotes
Eugenio Chacarra: “It was great. Obviously started with three birdies in a row and then I kind of slowed my round there, two three putts on holes four and six, but I think I did a great job. I’ve been doing a great job all week, I’ve been staying patient, my ball striking has been fabulous all week and my putter helped today.
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“So hopefully with a good moving day, but like I said, I’m just trying to get better every day, and winning tournaments is why I practice every day, and I’m going to have a chance tomorrow.
“I am working really hard. I have a great team surrounding me, we are trying to get better, not focusing on scores, and as you said, since India when I finished runner up and had a good week, I feel like I have been up there for a lot of events. I think I’ve made ten cuts in a row, including my Korn Ferry starts, so just trying to get better, more comfortable when I am up there in the leaderboard.
“Obviously as a young guy I haven’t been there enough yet and yeah, I am loving the process and loving the hard work, and hopefully tomorrow we can have a good day and see where that takes me.”
