BMW International Open: Unheralded Bland steals the show from Masters champion Garcia.

Munich. England’s Richard Bland turned in the performance of a
lifetime to move into a share of the lead after three rounds of the
BMW International Open at Golfclub Munchen Eichenried today and will
play the final round in the company of Sergio Garcia, the Masters champion.

The two players both had rounds of 67 to move to 13 under par
and open a gap of one stroke over their nearest rival. It would be
fair to say, however, that it was Bland – still looking for his first
win after 15 years on the European Tour – who stole the show.

Henrik Stenson, the defending champion, finished five strokes in
arrears after a disappointing level par round of 72 and will need a
very low final round to have a chance of overhauling the leaders.
Those still in with a good chance are Sweden’s Joakim Lagergren, who
trails by one, and Thomas Detry, of Belgium, who trails by three.

“I think it was the most fun I’ve had on the course for a long
time,” Stenson said. “I hit a lot of good shots and will take the
positives out of that.”   

If fortune favours the brave, then Bland deserved his success in
front of the 14,000 fans who came to watch. After locating his ball in
shallow water at the front of the par-five 11th, he donned waterproof
trousers and proceeded to play the ultimate ‘splash’ shot.

With the ball finding the heart of the green, the 43-year-old
Englishman coolly rolled in the putt for a birdie and was up and away.
Two holes later he arguably bettered the feat when his approach shot
to the 13th green landed to the side of the hole, spun sideways and
dropped below ground for an eagle two.

Reflecting on his shot out of water, Bland said: “I was walking
around thinking, ‘What kind of boxer shorts have I got?’ Fortunately
Gaz (his caddie) saved my blushes by saying that he had the
waterproofs in the bag. It was a 50/50 shot. It was one of those, if
it doesn’t come off, you’re going to look silly. There’s a lot of golf
yet to be played and there’s some great, great players. I’m playing
with the Masters Champion tomorrow. And we all know what Henrik can do
when he gets on a run.”

Garcia is where he would have wanted to be after 54 holes
although his round could have been better had more putts dropped. Even
so, he was pleased with a 67. “It’s nice, but it doesn’t mean that
it’s finished,” he said. “We still have a long day tomorrow. We’ve got
to go out there, play well again, and see if we can pull it off.”

Six German players made it through to the third round, but only
five will get to play on the final day. For the first time a new
European Tour rule was used to bring in a third round cut in order to
reduce the field to 72 players. This meant that Maximilian Kieffer,
Friend of the Brand, was the one to miss out. It was particularly
poignant for him as Sunday is his birthday.