Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
broken clouds
weather
OMAN
23°C / 23°C
EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Sordet soars to summit of NBO Golf Classic Final

1152936
1152936
minus
plus

Muscat: On a tough day of scoring at Al Mouj Golf, Clement Sordet shot an impressive four under par 68 to climb to the top of the leaderboard of the European Challenge Tour’s season-ending NBO Golf Classic Grand


Final. Sordet was tied third coming into Friday’s round after a magnificent hole-in-one on Thursday but he has leapfrogged Oliver Lindell and Estanislao Goya into top spot in this final stage of the Road to Oman season.


“It was great to start with two birdies — the perfect way to start the third round,” said Sordet. “To finish with a birdie was also fantastic because I played really solid for the whole round.


“Some of the pin positions were a bit crazy so you just had to take your medicine and aim eight or ten yards either side — so that’s what I did.”


Sordet knows that finishing with a title in this prestigious Challenge Tour finale would be the icing on the cake before a season on the European Tour against the likes of Challenge Tour graduates: Henrik Stenson, Justin Rose and Tyrrell Hatton.


“Winning would be a really good way to graduate,” admits the Frenchman. “Hopefully I can get the job done in the final day as I am really excited to start next season on the European Tour.”


Out of the Challenge Tour’s top 45 that are competing this weekend on the Greg Norman-designed course, only 15 earn a European Tour card for next season. Sordet is currently 12th on the Road to Oman and if the leaderboard stays as it currently is, he would sneak his way into the top 3 of the Challenge Tour rankings to earn a share of the €60,000 Bonus Pool.


Thursday’s front runner Goya was performing steadily on the stunning Al Mouj track but a frustrating double-bogey on the 15th saw him slip down the leaderboard into third, behind Lindell (-12) and Sordet (-13) with one round remaining. However, the Argentine remains optimistic and pleased with how he performed.


“I played really well to be honest,” said Goya after a round of 72. “I had really good opportunities and had really good putts that just didn’t go in. Overall I’m really happy with my round and am enjoying myself.”


There are only three strokes separating the top five players going into the final round of the NBO Golf Classic Grand Final so more fireworks are expected as the pressure of earning a European Tour card or not takes its toll and one star is crowned the 2017 champion in Oman.


SHARE ARTICLE
arrow up
home icon