Dermot McElroy (pictured above by Getty Images) can take a massive step forward in his career as he chases his maiden Challenge Tour win in the Indoor Golf Group Challenge in Sweden.
The Ballymena man (31) birdied his last two holes to card a four-under 67 and trail Sweden’s Mikael Lindberg by just three strokes on 10-under heading into Sunday’s final round on the Vesterby Links at Landeryds Golfklubb.
“Yeah, I’m pleased; I stayed patient,” said the former West of Ireland champion, who won twice on the now-defunct third-tier Europro Tour between 2021 and 2022.
“It was a tricky day today, especially on the front nine. The wind was blowing. Pins were tricky. I felt the greens were faster as well. The greens were very fast today, and the greens are always firm.
“So you had to hit it in the right position. Every time you missed in the wrong position, it was nearly an impossible up and down. So I’m very happy I stayed patient, and I hit it where I needed to hit it.”
Lindberg is seeking his third Challenge Tour win and while he birdied the 18th to card a five-under 66 for a three-shot lead over McElroy, the Irish challenger believes he’s playing well enough to win after seeing a modest improvement in his driving.
“It was still pretty poor if I’m being honest,” McElroy confessed. “But it’s nowhere near as bad as the first two days. I think I hit a couple weak right, but I was only down the right-hand side, so it was okay. It wasn’t 50 or 60 yards left.
“But no, I hit a couple of nice drives. I think I just need to keep working on it. But very happy with my iron play and my chipping and putting.”
As for his birdie-birdie finish, he hopes to build on that momentum and close the gap on Lindberg early in the final round.
“I looked at the leaderboard actually on the wee device we have,” he revealed. “I normally don’t do it, but I was like, I’ll have a look anyway.
“And seeing the leader was 12 under, I thought, I have to get to nine at least or 10 to give myself a chance because he’s probably going to birdie the last if not 17 as well.
“So no, it’s great. It’s great to be within touching distance, and hopefully, I can get off to a fast start tomorrow.”
With Swedes Jesper Sandborg and Joakim Largergren lurking just four shots off the lead on nine-under, McElroy knows he may have to go low to win.
But he will not be throwing caution to the wind.
“You can’t really be aggressive,” he said. “You can, in a sense, from the fairway with the right yardage, but if you have the wrong yardage, even from the fairway, you’ve still got to play pretty sensible.
“So I think just keep doing what I’m doing. I’m scoring quite well in general, and my iron play has been fantastic.
“So really, if I just get the driver going, just hit it a wee bit straighter, get it down the fairway, I think my iron play the way it is, I’ll certainly have a chance.”
Clandeboye’s Jonathan Caldwell shot 74 to slip to 46th on level par with Naas’ Conor O’Rourke 68th on five-over after a 77.