Martin Kaymer moved into a share of the lead heading into the final round of the Austrian Open and then declared it was “just a matter of time” before he ended his long winless run.
The world number 99 was on top of the global rankings this time 10 years ago but has not tasted victory since winning a second major championship at the US Open in 2014.
Kaymer insisted coming into the week in Atzenbrugg that he felt his game was in the right place to win on the European Tour and after ending days one and two in second, he fired a 69 on day three to share the summit on nine under with Spaniard Alejandro Canizares.
The German also said in the run-up to this event that he was aiming for a place in Padraig Harrington’s European Ryder Cup team and, while he does not think a win on Sunday would hugely aid that cause, he was delighted to be in contention at the right end of the leaderboard.
“It doesn’t really matter what happens tomorrow, if you win or not it’s nice to be in that position, to have an opportunity to win a golf tournament,” he told europeantour.com.
“Last year I had a couple of chances which I didn’t use. More often as you get into that position I think you get more comfortable and then it’s just a matter of time.
“It’s only April, there are so many tournaments to play, big events coming up so I don’t think it will make a huge difference (whether) whoever wins it tomorrow will make the Ryder Cup team. It’s just nice for your confidence, for your belief that you can win again. For me that has been a while.
“We are obviously not there yet but it’s nice to be in that position and I look forward to it.”
After making his first cut since August, Paul Dunne slipped back to three over par through 10 holes with a double bogey at the eighth but the Greystones man battled hard on his way in to reel off birdies at the 12th, 13th and 16th for a level par round of 72.
Dunne, who has struggled with a wrist injury over the last year, goes into the final round in a tie for 37th at level par for the tournament. One shot better off is Cormac Sharvin who signed for a round of 69 which included a birdie two at the closing Par 3 18th.
At the top of the leaderboard, Kaymer made five birdies and two bogeys in his round, the highlight being a very long putt on the 16th to bounce back after a disappointing three-putt on the previous hole.
Overnight leader Canizares had led by three after making four birdies in a row from the third but he would pick up only two more shots — along with two double-bogeys — to sign for a 70.
Germany’s Maximilian Kieffer was at eight under, a shot clear of American John Catlin and two ahead of England’s Daniel Gavins.
Collated third round scores from the Austrian Open (British unless stated, Par 72)
207 Martin Kaymer (Ger) 68 70 69, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 67 70 70
208 Maximilian Kieffer (Ger) 72 68 68
209 John Catlin (USA) 68 70 71
210 Joost Luiten (Ned) 71 70 69, Jacques Kruyswijk (Rsa) 68 72 70, Daniel Gavins 69 74 67
211 Nicolai von Dellingshausen (Ger) 74 72 65
212 Austin Bautista (Aus) 74 67 71, Matthias Schwab (Aut) 71 75 66, Garrick Higgo (Rsa) 72 71 69, Adrien Saddier (Fra) 71 72 69, Marcus Armitage 73 69 70
213 Richard Mansell 69 71 73, Justin Walters (Rsa) 71 68 74, Jeff Winther (Den) 69 73 71, Lorenzo Gagli (Ita) 70 72 71, Shiv Chawrasia (Ind) 72 68 73, Dale Whitnell 74 71 68, Wil Besseling (Ned) 72 71 70
214 Kurt Kitayama (USA) 71 72 71, Garrick Porteous 75 68 71, Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 72 72 70, Nicolai Hoejgaard (Den) 70 72 72
215 Ashun Wu (Chn) 72 72 71, Shubhankar Sharma (Ind) 75 68 72, Rasmus Hoejgaard (Den) 71 75 69, Renato Paratore (Ita) 78 66 71, Masahiro Kawamura (Jpn) 76 71 68, Ashley Chesters 76 69 70, Soeren Kjeldsen (Den) 72 71 72, Ricardo Santos (Por) 75 69 71, Cormac Sharvin (NIrl) 75 71 69, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 71 75 69, Pedro Oriol (Spa) 69 74 72, Craig Howie (Sco) 76 70 69
216 Chris Wood 73 72 71, Sam Horsfield 74 73 69, Thomas Detry (Bel) 70 74 72, Grant Forrest (Sco) 70 73 73, Svn-Hwan Kim (Kor) 71 73 72, Rikard Karlberg (Swe) 68 74 74, Paul Dunne (Irl) 73 71 72, Bernd Ritthammer (Ger) 70 75 71, Max Schmitt (Ger) 72 75 69, Chase Hanna (USA) 72 69 75
217 Sean Crocker (USA) 75 71 71, Ross Fisher 75 70 72, David Drysdale (Sco) 70 71 76, Darius van Driel (Ned) 72 74 71, Maverick Antcliff (Aus) 72 74 71
218 Deyen Lawson (Aus) 77 70 71, Alejandro Del Rey (Spa) 74 71 73, David Ravetto (Fra) 70 76 72, Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 75 72 71, Emilio Cuartero (Spa) 71 74 73, Marcel Schneider (Ger) 77 70 71, Euan Walker (Sco) 77 69 72
219 Richard McEvoy 75 72 72, Zander Lombard (Rsa) 72 70 77, Julien Guerrier (Fra) 70 73 76, Eduardo de la Riva (Spa) 75 72 72, Pep Angles (Spa) 76 71 72, Tyler Koivisto (USA) 74 72 73, Matthew Baldwin 73 74 72, Berry Henson (USA) 73 73 73
220 Adrian Meronk (Pol) 71 70 79, Ajeetesh Sandhu (Ind) 77 70 73
221 Callum Shinkwin 72 75 74, James Morrison 73 72 76, Benjamin Poke (Den) 71 73 77
222 Julian Suri (USA) 77 70 75
223 Timon Baltl (Aut) 74 73 76
