Levet maintains Spanish Open lead

Golf Betting Lines

05/02/2009 - Girona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - France's Thomas Levet only managed a one- under 71 on Saturday, but held on to his two-shot cushion after the third round of the Spanish Open.

Levet finished 54 holes at 14-under 202 at the Stadium Course at PGA Golf Catalunya.

Stuart Davis fired a five-under 67 on Saturday and moved into second place at minus-12. Defending champion Peter Lawrie shot a 71 and is alone in third at 11-under 205.

Stephen Dodd (69) and Fabrizio Zanotti (66) share fourth at minus-nine, which is one shot better than Thomas Bjorn, who posted a one-under 71 in Saturday's third round.

They are all chasing a four-time European Tour winner, who played sound golf on Saturday.

Levet started solidly with four consecutive pars on Saturday, but his tee ball came up short at the par-three fifth. He chipped to 15 feet, but missed his par putt. Levet still held on to first thanks to a birdie and a bogey from Soren Hansen, but Levet would build up his lead after the miscue at the fifth.

After a birdie at the par-four sixth, Levet chipped to four feet for his third shot at the par-five seventh. The back-to-back birdies gave Levet a three-shot edge, but that nearly evaporated on the very next hole.

Hansen made birdie at the par-three eighth and Levet three-putted from 30 feet for a bogey. The two-shot swing left Levet with a slim one-shot advantage over Hansen, but that changed one hole later when Hansen triple-bogeyed the ninth after a horrible drive.

With Hansen out of the picture, Levet owned a three-shot lead and his closest competitors were Lawrie and a charging Davis. Levet had some decent looks at birdie at the 11th and 12th, but came up short each time. His lead was trimmed to two, but a nine-foot birdie putt at the 13th allowed him to reclaim his three-stroke margin.

The field made birdies on the back nine and Levet followed. He two-putted for a birdie at the par-five 15th, his third birdie in as many days on that hole, but a bogey at 16 left him two clear.

Levet parred 17 and had a makeable birdie putt on the last green. His putt narrowly missed the hole, but Levet will take his fourth 54-hole lead on the European Tour.

Levet's record is not great with the third-round lead. His only victory in the prior three instances came at the 1998 Cannes Open. Levet finished second in the other two, both in 2004.

Hansen never recovered from the triple-bogey at nine. He finished with a four- over 76 and is tied for seventh with Paul Broadhurst (70), Niclas Fasth (65), Jose Manuel Lara (71), Francesco Molinari (70), Charl Schwartzel (69) and Marcel Siem (72). That group finished three rounds at seven-under 209.

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