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Delamontagne delivers a round to remember
Jeju, Korea, 25 April 2009 - François Delamontagne stood alone at the Ballantine’s Championship in Korea on Saturday – the only player to break par in the third round.
As howling winds buffeted Pinx Golf Club on the island of Jeju and sent scores soaring, the Frenchman carded a highly impressive one-under-par 71.
Added to his pair of 72s in the opening two rounds, his sterling effort left him on one-under 215 for the tournament – five shots behind leader Robert-Jan Derksen of the Netherlands.
“I just had a very solid long game and some good putting,” said Delamontagne. “That’s the secret, to make your putts in these conditions. It was amazing, because it was so cold, and massive wind.
“But you know, I’m from Brittany in France and there’s a lot of wind there as well. I like to play in these conditions, but with five or six degrees more!
“In these conditions, you have to be patient and just hit shot after shot and say, ‘OK, I missed a shot but I’m going to miss another one.’ You just have to concentrate on the routine.”
Delamontagne won the French Amateur Championship in 2000 and the French Amateur International Championship the following year but has yet to win as a professional.
Saturday’s brilliant effort saw him move up 36 places to joint sixth in the Ballantine’s Championship and left him on course to eclipse his best finish this season – joint 12th at the Open de Portugal earlier this month.
Teeing off at the 10th hole after tournament organisers, with one eye on the weather, opted for a two-tee start, Delamontagne opened with a pair of birdies.
Bogeys on the 13th and 17th brought him back to level par for the day but he birdied the par-four 18th and then played flawlessly to par the remaining nine holes as the players around him struggled.
Delamontagne – whose father Patrick played football for France – will be looking for more of the same in the final round of the €2.1 million showpiece, which is once again co-sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours and Korea PGA.
“There is one more day and I think if I hit the ball like this tomorrow with the same surface on the green, it will be good,” he said.
“I’m playing well. I think I just need to go out with the same attitude that I had today.”
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Released on behalf of the Ballantine’s Championship by Two Up Front - Asia’s sports PR specialists.