Ireland Claims Outright Lead Back in Aruba

On the toughest windy conditions we have had all week long at Aruba's Tierra del Sol Resort, Michael Hoey and Gareth Maybin of Ireland were able to claim the outright lead back at The Omega Mission Hills World Cup Aruba Qualifier 2007. The Irishmen carded a 3-under par 68 on the third round of best-ball fourball to lead at 10-under par 203, one-stroke clear of Puerto Rico, Paraguay and Italy.

"It was tough out there. It was just really hard with the wind, as it takes a lot out of you," commented Hoey. "Maybe we didn't putt as well as we did on the last couple of days, but it was good anyway. We caught a lot of fairways and greens".

The Irishmen birdied the first, but then slowed down with eight consecutive pars. A strong charge of birdie-par-birdie-birdie off the tenth awarded them a two-stroke lead before they gave a shot back by bogeying the par-five 14 th.

"Anytime you are at the top of the leaderboard you have to feel happy. Tomorrow we just have to hit fairways and greens, shoot a good solid score and see what happens. There are many good players out here, so we have to go out there and focus on our own game," added Maybin.

Wilfredo Morales and Miguel Su‡rez of Puerto Rico and Carlos Franco and Fabrizio Zanotti of Paraguay both carded a 67 to move-up into the three-way tie for second with the Molinari brothers from Italy, who lost hold of the co-lead by carding a 68. Meanwhile, Venezuela's Miguel Mart’nez and Juan Carlos Berastegui hold the fifth and last qualifying spot available after a 66 that saw them climb two spots at 8-under par 205.

Starting the day in a tie for ninth at even-par, Colombia has entered the race with strength. The duo of Gustavo Mendoza and Jorge Benedetti moved into the solo sixth, two strokes behind Venezuela, by virtue of a best-of-the day 65 of seven birdies and one bogey. A stroke further back the solo seventh belongs to Dwayne Pearman and Kim Swan of Bermuda, who shot 1-under par 70 to move down one spot.

With the nerve wracking format of alternate-shot foursomes left for tomorrow's final day, other teams such a Chile, solo eight at 3-under, the Check Republic, Brazil and Guatemala, tied for ninth at 2-under still could have a chance to make the 28-team field scheduled to compete in the Omega Mission Hills World Cup in China, November 22-25.

The strong wind, coming from the Caribbean Sea at a speed of 35 miles, provoked plenty of movement on the leaderboard. Carlos Franco and Fabrizio Zanotti were able to sort it early, taking the outright lead by two strokes after a valiant 31 on the front nine. However, they ran out of gas to card eight pars and one bogey on a highly frustrating back nine.

Miguel Mart’nez and Juan Carlos Berastegui set a great pace as well. After seven birdies and one bogey on the first twelve holes, the Venezuelan duo was off to a hot start. However, they were unable to pull away any further as they played 1-over on the remaining six holes, with bogey at the par-five 14, a birdie on 16 and a final bogey at the par-three 17.

But no one finished as upset as Alejandro Villavicencio and Pablo Acu–a. The young Guatemalans were unable to follow on their success of the first 36 holes, as they carded a highest-of-the-day 3-over par 74 to slip down from a tie for third into a tie for ninth.

Tomorrow's final round of alternate-shot foursomes is scheduled to start at 8:30 a.m., with the final group featuring Ireland and Paraguay teeing off at 9:51 a.m. (local time is the same as the US Atlantic coast).

The Omega Mission Hills World Cup Aruba Qualifier 2007 awards five berths for the Omega Mission Hills World Cup, to be played in China, November 22-25. The qualifying event is conducted by the Tour de las Americas on behalf of the International Federation of PGA Tours.

Photos by Enrique Berardi, TLA