Portugal Masters 2013: Final Predictions for Day 4

Paul Waring is looking in excellent shape to pick up his first tour victory at the Portugal Masters. The Englishman recovered from a stuttering start to his third round and takes a two-shot lead into the final round, which is shaping up to be a bit special.

So what’s going to happen on the final day of such a tight contest?

Waring is well placed on 16 under par, but there are four players who are just two shots back on 14-under. 

You suspect at least one of them will make a late run at Waring, especially with low scores coming pretty frequently at the Oceanico Victoria course. The lowest of all of the weekend’s scores came from Scotland’s Scott Jamieson on Day 3. He played superbly yesterday and needed to birdie the last hole to card a magical score of 59 for the round.

But he was to fall just short. An adrenaline-riddled approach saw him just off the back of the green before his chip shot from the fringe sloped agonizingly wide.

He was disappointed not to make history, no doubt, but in terms of this tournament, that round has put him right into contention ahead of the final day. Jamieson seemed as though he was able to see the bigger picture, according to his comments on EuropeanTour.com:

"

When I birdied the 13th I said to Richard (his caddie), "a few more and we could be part of history." I was definitely nervous but thinking about it from the tournament point of view the leaders are going to be a minimum of 16, 17 maybe 18 under going into tomorrow so that kept me going from a pushing point of view.

"

In this kind of red-hot form, Jamieson looks the most likely to overhaul Waring. In yesterday’s remarkable round, he holed 11 birdies and showcased superb control from fairway to green. The Scot’s game has actually looked in pretty good shape all weekend, but the putts just haven’t been dropping for him.

Until yesterday, of course.

Expect a straight fight between Jamieson and Waring for the title, especially with the two partnered up for the final round. Waring has been solid all weekend, but it will be interesting to see how he holds up when the chance of winning that first title becomes a reality.

But he showed supreme mental strength yesterday to finish with birdies at the 16th and 17th and a subsequent two-shot lead going into today’s final round. With players like Jamieson hot on his heels here, the Birkenhead-born golfer has emphasized the significance of focusing on his own game, per EuropeanTour.com:

"

You don't know what's going to happen with the other lads, what anyone else is going to score. You can't control those sorts of things.

All I can do is control what I can control and add them up at the end of the day and see what happens.

"

Other challengers include Hennie Otto, Simon Thornton and Jamie Donaldson, who are tied with Jamieson on 14-under. Pablo Larrazabal is one shot further back on 13-under and will be hopeful of building off a solid round of 64 yesterday.

But with Jamieson and Waring going out in the final group at 13:35 BST, expect both players to spur each other on to great things. Waring will just hold off the Scotsman here, although a red-hot Jamieson looks set to run him close.

Final Predictions

1. Waring
2. Jamieson
3. Larrazabal