Storm surges into lead with ace

Graeme Storm’s hole in one started a surge that made him the frontrunner on 16 under par after the third round of the Omega European Masters.

Storm, whose ace came on the 217 yard par three 11th, looked set for a share of the overnight lead until Brooks Koepka double bogeyed the last to drop back to 14 under.

Tommy Fleetwood, whose 63 is his best European Tour round, sits second on 15 under in Switzerland.

However, the day belonged to Storm, ranked 159th in The Race to Dubai, who shot his second 64 of the week.

At the 11th Storm teed up on the left and his drive pitched just off the green before spinning towards the middle of the cup, situated on the right of the putting surface.

The masterstroke, which Storm celebrated jubilantly, earned the Englishman a BMW sports car worth around £100,000.

Storm described his “total elation” at the ace, adding: “It was an incredible feeling.

“I had a hole in one earlier in the season in Morocco and won a lamp, so I think this prize just about tops that one.

“To win a car is absolutely magnificent, especially as I had to sell mine because we couldn’t afford to have two cars any more.

“I got a member’s bounce off the bank, but I’ve been here a few times so I’ve probably just about earned it.”

Before his hole in one Storm, whose sole European Tour triumph was in 2007 at Open de France ALSTOM, had made four birdies and two bogeys in his round.

He then registered three gains and one drop, but his par at the last proved particularly valuable when Koepka slipped up.

The only blemish of Fleetwood’s round, which featured eight birdies, was a bogey at the par four second. More painfully for Koepka, his double drop at 18 was his sole blip.

Koepka said: “You can never be too disappointed with a 66, but obviously the last hole leaves a bit of a sour taste.

“It was a poor tee shot, and then I compounded the mistake with my second shot.

“You just have to laugh it off though. Tomorrow’s another day, and I don’t let things affect me too much.

“I’m a pretty laid back kind of guy, so I’m sure I will have forgotten all about it within five minutes. I hope that’s the case anyway.”

Fleetwood said: “My game has been good for the past few weeks. I’ve been hitting it really well on the range this week, but that doesn’t guarantee that you’re going to take it out onto the course with you.

“But my iron play today was really, really good – I can’t really remember a single shot which wasn’t on line. I got on a roll with the putter as well, so everything came together nicely.”

The leading trio’s fine scoring was typical of much of the field on a glorious day at the stunning Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club.

Peter Lawrie and the flawless Marco Crespi played the rounds of the day, firing 62s to sit nine and ten under respectively.

Lawrie would have been even closer to the lead had he not dropped the only shot of his excellent round with a bogey at 16, a par three.

His gains all came from birdies, including three consecutively from the first and eighth holes.

Lawrie said: “I was lucky yesterday to make the cut. I holed about a 15 footer at the last and made the cut on the mark.

“I came out this morning, tried to shoot a low number and all of a sudden holed a few putts from pretty close. The magic 59 was on with a couple of holes to play. Unfortunately I didn’t do that but 62 is a very good score.”

Overnight leader Richie Ramsay bogeyed three of his first four holes to drop back but recovered to go round in level par.

He sits on 12 under alongside Jamie Donaldson, who had shared the lead before triple bogeying the par four 12th, and Tyrrell Hatton. They are a shot behind fourth placed David Lipsky.

Lipsky, along with Shane Lowry, was playing in Storm’s group and after their rounds recalled the hole in one.

“It was great,” he said. “Shane hit a great shot and then I hit an even better shot and Graeme put it into the hole.

“It was a fun time. The crowd were very supportive and enthusiastic and I can’t ask for anything more.”