After two days of near-perfection, it felt like absolutely nothing went right for New Zealand’s Ben Campbell on Saturday at the Fiji International presented by Fiji Airways.
But thanks to his dominant display in the opening 36 holes, the Kiwi is still alive despite a third round of five-over 77.
Gaganjeet Bhullar woke up five shots behind Campbell but finished the day ahead of him by two. The Indian’s three-under 69 was the equal-best round of the day and enough for the outright lead at eight-under par.
A pack of four Australians hold down second on the leaderboard, with Andrew Dodt (72), Terry Pilkadaris (71), Jarryd Felton (71) and Jake McLeod (70) all sitting at seven under.
Starting the day four strokes clear of the field, Campbell stretched that margin to six with an early birdie on the third.
But then disaster struck.
Having only made three bogeys all week, Campbell surrendered four shots in the next five holes. The Kiwi watched as putt after putt slid by the hole and his lead crumbled to just one.
A birdie at the uphill ninth steadied the ship, but some loose strikes on the way home – and more troubles with the flatstick – saw Campbell drop to six-under par for the tournament.
“I don’t feel like I played anywhere near as bad as what I scored actually,” an upbeat Campbell said after signing his card. “I just had two bad swings that really cost me. Felt like I should have shot one over, two over at most.”
Despite typically tough winds sweeping across Natadola Bay Championship Golf Course on Saturday, Campbell was the only player currently inside the top-10 to shoot over par in the third round.
But the 26-year-old knows not much needs to change for him to return to the top: “Today I could have easily holed six or seven putts just like that and been still well clear.
“I’m only two back, so the first two days – made seven birdies both days – I feel like I could easily shoot six or seven under out there.”
Young gun McLeod is coming off the back of a runner-up finish in Thailand last week on the Asian Tour. With two other runner-up finishes to his name, the Queenslander is ready to lift some silverware.
“It’s always a good opportunity being up near the lead in the last round, so really looking forward to it,” said McLeod.
“Winning would obviously be massive. It would be my first win as a professional in a big tournament.”
One of four others to shoot the day’s low number – a 69 – was South Africa’s Ernie Els. The Big Easy roared home with four birdies in his last 10 holes to suddenly be three shots back. Els is eyeing his first top-10 anywhere in the world since June, 2016.
Japan Tour player Matt Griffin is joined at four under by Queenslander Anthony Quayle and Thailand’s Poom Saksansin.
While not enough to get them in the mix heading into the final day, Australian Kieran Muir and Thai Thitiphun Chuayprakong each had a moment to remember on Saturday. The duo made aces on the par-3 second hole barely an hour apart – taking the hole-in-one count on the second to three for the week.
