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Dantorp eyes second Spanish victory at Empordà

Tournament: Empordà Challenge
Venue: Empordà Golf, Girona, Spain
Hashtag: #EmpordaChallenge

Image of Jens Dantorp
Jens Dantorp - Getty Images.

Third Round Report

Jens Dantorp will bid for his second victory on the 2022 Road to Mallorca as he takes a one-stroke lead into the final round of the Empordà Challenge.

The Swede followed his course record-equalling second round with a three under par round of 67 on day three to move to 11 under par, one ahead of Scotland's Liam Johnston who breezed into contention with an excellent six under par 64 at Empordà Golf.

Dantorp, who won the Challenge de España in Cádiz just three weeks ago, carded seven birdies and four bogeys on a scorching hot day in Girona and admits he was too aggressive coming in, after making a good par save following a wayward drive on the 17th, before hitting his tee shot in the hazard on the 18th where he subsequently made bogey.

"Coming in was a bit of a struggle," he said. "I managed to make a good par save on 17 and made a few good birdies on the back nine as well. It was a bit up and down on the back nine but it was pretty solid on the front nine. Yesterday was great so hopefully I can find that form tomorrow.

"I was a bit fortunate to be on the cart path on 17. I hit a duck hook off the tee, got through the trees and it landed on the cart path. I hit a decent second shot but you never know how it's going to come out off the cart path. I got a really bad lie in the grass bunker but I hit a good shot from there, so it was nice to get up and down.

"I feel like I maybe attacked a little bit too hard on the back nine at some points today, but you have to play aggressive to win, so I'll stick to that.

"You know you can do it, so it gives you a bit of confidence. It means I can go out and focus on the right things because I know I can do it. You can never affect what the other guys are doing, so you just have to focus on your own thing and hopefully it will be good enough for tomorrow."

Scotland's Johnston put himself in contention for his third Challenge Tour title, and first for almost four years, by finishing with a birdie on the difficult 18th hole and will join Dantorp in the final group on Sunday.

"It went really well today," he said. "I got off to a quick start, I was four under through six holes. I had a bit of a slack bogey on nine but I steadied it well and it was nice to finish with a birdie on the last with it being quite a tough hole.

"I holed a nice putt on 16 and then hit a wedge to maybe a foot on the last, which was nice, so it was a good day's work.

"It's been a bit of a while since I was in this position. I've won a couple of times on the Challenge Tour before, including in Spain actually, so I'm just looking forward to tomorrow. It's just been enjoyable. It's nice to be in contention again, that's what you play golf for."

Dantorp and Johnston broke away from the pack on day three, but Sweden's Robin Petersson carded a six under par 64 of his own to move into a share of third place alongside England's Dan Brown, Italian Lorenzo Scalise and Frenchman Gary Stal on seven under par.

Swedish duo Dantorp and Petersson will be joined by Johnston in Sunday's final group, which will get under way at 10:10am local time.

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Grant closing in on historic win in Swedens

Tournament: Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed
DP World Tour Rankings: Tournament 19 of 44 events
Venue: Halmstad GC, Tylösand, Sweden
Prize Fund: $2,000,000
Hashtag: #VolvoScandinavianMixed #DPWT #RaiseOurGame

Image of Linn Grant
Linn Grant - Getty Images.

Round Three Report

Local favourite Linn Grant will take a two-shot lead into the final round of the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed as she bids to become the DP World Tour's first female winner.

The 22-year-old Swede fired a flawless 66, which included a tremendous eagle from 75 feet on the 11th and four birdies, to get to 16 under par and overtake halfway leader Jason Scrivener at the top.

Australian Scrivener had led for most of the day and found himself three shots clear at the turn, but he missed good chances to extend his advantage and a double bogey at the short 16th saw him fall from the summit.

A closing birdie handed Scrivener solo second spot on 14 under, while home hero and tournament co-host Henrik Stenson was alone in third another shot further back.

Grant only entered the paid ranks last year but is already a proven winner, having followed up her maiden Ladies European Tour victory at the Joburg Ladies Open in March with a second title at the Mithra Belgian Ladies Open two weeks ago.

Image of Henrik Stenson
Henrik Stenson - Getty Images.

Player Quotes

Linn Grant: "A very solid day again. I really found my swing yesterday on the range and this morning was a good warm up, a bit stressed, but that is pretty much a good thing to me. I got out there and hit good drives, I think I hit pretty much every fairway, on the greens and solid putting.

"I think I practised throughout all my years playing as an amateur being in the same situation of being nervous and knowing how to handle that and get the best out of myself.

"I think it is fun, I am her to do my golf and I hope that takes me all the way and if it does, then I'll take it for the women.

"I hope that people realise that we're actually getting there, getting close to the guys and having the same journey the men have had for the last thirty or forty years. To really just put women's golf on the map a little bit more than it is at the moment, we can hit it far enough and close to the pin and hole some putts and do good scoring."

Henrik Stenson: "It was a bit up and down again. We got off to a blistering start, probably could have been one or two shots better on the front nine, I had decent looks on a lot of holes, so a very good start. I had a bit of a hiccup on 11, in good position, I just hit an awful swing with a four wood and rattled into the trees right and didn't really follow it up with too much quality either with the next few shots, so walked away with a bogey on that par five.

"Then a couple good pars on 12 and 13 and again a bad tee shot on 14 and followed that up by wrapping it in the trees, and in the end I had to make a six or seven footer for a bogey, so if there ever is a good six I guess I made that one on 14, and then made a couple nice putts on the last few holes with 16 being the highlight of the day. It was smoke and fireworks and the grandstand erupting, so I didn't expect quite that much noise after making the putt but it was fun.

"It would be sweet, so I better stay away from making six on the par fives right, but I feel like I got myself back in the ball game at least with those late birdies, and I felt like it would have been a shame to finish with anything worse than five under today given that start, so we have work to do tomorrow, I don't know how much we are going to be behind the leaders but we certainly have some ground to make up and I would love to win in Sweden, but I really have to do my part tomorrow."

Jason Scrivener: "A bit of everything really. It was looking like a pretty good round up until the 13 or 14 really, I played nicely and then was a bit scrappy coming in, but all in all pretty happy with it.

"I can't wait. It is a great opportunity tomorrow to win a tournament and to be in the final group is always nice as well."

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