Joost Luiten fell very far from second to joint 27th place in the Scandinavian Mixed in the stormy wind that roared over the Vallda Golf & Country Club during the third round. Low in his round in 78 strokes was the double bogey on the par-3 8th hole. Luiten finished to the left of the green and putting was not an option as there was a narrow stream between the flag and his ball. For the umpteenth time it became clear that chipping is the Achilles heel of the six-time winner on the European Tour. He hit the ground with the wedge first, the ball advanced a few meters and bumped painfully into the hurdle. The next chip was perfect, but the 5 that had to be recorded on the scorecard was no less precious because of it. Also on the par-3 15th, Luiten, who had completed the first 36 holes without a single bogey, made a double. In addition, there were five bogeys on the card and three birdies.
Besseling rises
Wil Besseling seemed to be on his way to make a very nice jump in the standings, but he too (started on hole 10) made a mistake on hole 8 with a double bogey. Yesterday the North Hollander even made a quadruple bogey 7 on that dangerous par-3. Besseling also made a double on hole 2 and two more bogeys. But he also made eight birdies for a round 70 (-2) and in the strong wind that was enough to rise with a total of -8 to joint fourteenth place, just four strokes from the leaders.
Four leaders
At the top of the leaderboard it is very exciting. Rhys Enoch, Jason Scrivener, Caroline Hedwall and Alice Hewson share the lead at -12. So two men and two women, which is nice in a mixed event. Behind the four leaders, five players share fifth place one stroke behind. So it promises to be a very exciting denouement on Sunday in the first edition of this special tournament.
What is unique about Scandinavian Mixed is that there are no separate rankings for the 78 men and the 78 women in the tournament, they compete for the same prize pool of one million euros. There are also points for both men and women to earn for the various rankings. The Scandinavian Mixed was co-created by Swedish golf icons Annika Sörenstam and Henrik Stenson.
Leaderboard
???? Scandinavian Mixed @henrikstenson ???? @ ANNIKA59 #14ClubChallenge pic.twitter.com/EMbAEhB4jd
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) June 11, 2021
