I shot a third round level par 72 today (Saturday) to be in tied 7th at eight under par with a round to go of the €1.75 million Dutch Open in the Netherlands on the DP World Tour.
Co-leaders are Victor Perez (Fr) alongside my playing partner of today, Matt Wallace (Eng). Perez had a six birdie 69 to go alongside his first rounds of 67 and 70 to be 10 under par. I watched Wallace all day with his round of 70, with a particularly solid back nine holes, I was impressed.
What a disappointing start and a disappointing finish to my round.
My first real stumble of the week, a double on hole two, thanks to a couple of duffed chips following a poor drive. I have dropped three shots in two days on this hole, the 432 yards, par 4, the second toughest hole of the day.
Three-birdie blitz
I recovered well with a three-birdie blitz on holes 6, 7 and 8.
On the back nine I holed a monster 17 yard putt from downtown on the par 4 tenth hole to take the outright lead of the tournament.
I then had a solid run of six holes, all with pars, and then stood on the par three, 149 yards, 17th hole which had a front pin position.
I misjudged my tee shot in the wind and found a wet ball short of the green and had to settle for a triple bogey 6 after a three putt.
I managed a birdie four on the home hole, which was some consolation to ponder over dinner tonight.
What a shame!
I checked the Tour stats on the laptop at the end of my round, and my triple was the only score to be worse than a bogey on hole 17 all day, there was not even one double bogey. That one hurt me!
The weather today included a coldish wind that kept switching direction and with the greens firming up, scoring was not easy on the Kyle Phillips designed Bernadus Golf layout. The players are loving the course condition and design, but I am not particularly enjoying either holes 2 or 17 today as I write this diary today!
But maybe I must shoulder some of the blame!
17 birdies
I have managed 17 birdies after three rounds: 5 in round one, 7 in round two and 5 today, which I am proud of, I just need to minimise the mistakes from now on.
My tee time is Match 30 tomorrow Sunday) at 1.10 pm and I am paired with Alexander Bjork (Swe) who is alongside me at eight under par. The leading pair is out at 1.40 pm, Wallace and Perez.
Tomorrow is another day for me and the final round.
I must take all the positives from the week so far, there are so many, and stay patient as I am only two shots back of the leaders with 18 holes to go!
I would have taken that on Thursday morning before I had hit a shot.
A big day for me tomorrow with so much at stake.
Thanks to all the GULF NEWS readers for all your messages of support.
Wish me all the best.
- Dubai resident Adrian Meronk is a professional golfer from Poland on the DP World Tour who uses Dubai as his winter home. He is sponsored by Dubai based White Eagle, who organise golf events.
