Following a third day of play at the acclaimed Golf Costa Adeje, Kalle Samooja and Nicolai von Dellingshausen shared the lead on 17-under par at the 2021 Tenerife Open.
Von Dellingshausen, who entered Saturday’s round with a three shot advantage, carded a 1-under 70 to book a second night of sleep on the marquee position.
“The last two holes were actually a boost,” said Von Dellingshausen. “I misread my first putt by quite a bit and then rolled in from two metres on the 17th, and then that swinger on the last.
“Putting was good the last few days as well, especially from those distances. It’s always good when you finish with a putt like that.
“I had to be very patient. I would be lying if I said I didn’t have any nerves just going out here.
“It’s a situation that is not completely new to me but it’s a different set up on the European Tour. I tried to stay patient and I did.
“I stayed in the present quite well. I was just a little bit nervous out there and that’s when I sometimes drift to the future and past and start moaning about the shot that happened on the last.”
Samooja secured his own share of the top spot with a scorecard featuring six birdies, highlighted by a hat trick on Nos. 11-13, and a final-hole gain, en route to a 5-under 66.
“My short game was pretty spot on today,” said Samooja. “Ball-striking hasn’t been that pretty, especially today, so you need to find something in your game that works.
“Play better on Saturday is the first thing I have learned. I’ve been playing pretty bad on Saturdays but it’s a learning process and it’s a long week.
“Four weeks is a lot of good golf to play. It’s pretty tightly packed and anything can happen so you need to be relaxed and make a lot of birdies.”
The lead duo, though, will have a large pack of chasers on Sunday, including South African Dean Burmester, who was just one shot off the pace on 16 under following a round of 66.
Local favorite Sebastian Garcia Rodriguez, who posted a low-day 64, was one further back, alongside Korean Yikeun Chang (67) and Poland’s Adrian Meronk (65).
The Tour’s two most recent champions, John Catlin (67), who won two weeks ago in Austria, and Garrick Higgo (66), last week’s winner at Gran Canaria, headlined a group of four more players tied on 14 under.
In all, some 20 players were within five shots of the lead.
2021 Tenerife Open
Top-5 Leaders: Round Three
Pos-Player-To Par-(Rd 3)
1. Kalle Samooja -17 (-5)
1. Nicolai von Dellingshausen -17 (-1)
3. Dean Burmester -16 (-5)
4. Sebastian Garcia Rodriguez -15 (-7)
4. Yikeun Chang -15 (-4)
4. Adrian Meronk -15 (-6)
Material from the European Tour Media was used to compile this report.
