Portugal Masters 2015: Saturday Leaderboard Scores and Highlights
Andy Sullivan continued his red-hot form at the Portugal Masters 2015 on Saturday, and he will enter the final day of competition with a commanding five-shot lead over Eduardo de la Riva, the next man on the leaderboard.
Sullivan finished Saturday's round with a score of 67 and now sits an incredible 18-under after his two sensational rounds of 64 earlier during the tournament.
Here's a look at the current leaderboard:
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| 1 | Andy Sullivan | -18 | -4 |
| 2 | Eduardo de la Riva | -13 | -3 |
| T3 | Jorge Campillo | -11 | -4 |
| T3 | Chris Wood | -11 | -6 |
| T5 | Thomas Pieters | -10 | +1 |
| T5 | Nicolas Colsaerts | -10 | -3 |
| T7 | Thomas Bjorn | -9 | -1 |
| T7 | Trevor Fischer Jr | -9 | -1 |
| T7 | Bernd Wiesberger | -9 | +1 |
| T7 | Hennie Otto | -9 | -2 |
For the full leaderboard, visit the European Tour's official website.
Saturday Recap
A dreadful weather forecast forced event organisers into making a shotgun start, and by the time the favourites for the title made their way onto the course, the wind was already blowing fiercely and the threat of rain imminent, via the European Tour's official Twitter account:
It's testament to Sullivan's ridiculous form that he managed to get through the day shooting four-under, just three shots worse than his totals on Thursday and Friday and better than anyone in the top 10 save Chris Wood, whose round wasn't affected as harshly by the wind.
Sullivan managed six birdies in total to go with two bogeys, on the seventh and 16th, and with just about everyone bogeying the dreaded seventh hole, a par-four widely seen as the toughest hole on the course, the 29-year-old will likely have been more than happy with his score.
As reported by the European Tour's official website, Sullivan acknowledged the conditions made it tough on Saturday:
"I'm just playing really good golf at the moment and just hung in there early doors and managed to knock a few good putts in early. And I just kept that going throughout the round and ended up finishing four under for the day, which is awesome in that horrible weather out there.
I thought I handled myself well. I didn't really feel like I'd done much wrong out there today. I think every part of my game is in good touch, and I didn't really ever leave myself too much to do.
"
Sullivan's short game in particular has stood out during the first three days of competition, and while he looked less solid from the tee on Saturday, that was to be expected due to the wind.
Shortly after he finished his round, the rain started to pour, and more of the same is expected on Sunday.
De la Riva is Sullivan's closest competitor after a solid round of three-under on Saturday, and a superb approach on the 18th allowed him to birdie the final hole and keep himself in the running for the title:
The birdie was part of a stretch of three consecutive birdies to end his round, which started with a dreadful bogey on the first hole.
The Spaniard looked much better from the tee on Saturday than he has all week, but he managed just 25 percent on his scrambles and didn't look at his best putting, either.
He could still put pressure on Sullivan should the Brit struggle with the conditions on Sunday, but in all likelihood, the race for first place is already over. Sullivan has been flawless all week long, and it's hard to see any scenario in which he falls apart on the final day of competition.
Behind those two, the rest of the pack seems unlikely to make a late push for the win. Wood and Jorge Campillo are tied for third, seven shots behind Sullivan, and while the latter was superb on Saturday with a round of 65, his work from the tee has been spotty at best.
Wood needs Sullivan and De la Riva to struggle tremendously to even have a chance of winning.
Thomas Pieters looked like the only man capable of keeping pace with Sullivan during the first two days of competition, but he played a disastrous round of 72 to end his chances of winning.
He and Bernd Wiesberger will need to do a better job of dealing with the weather as they play for a podium spot on Sunday.
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