Wallace tied for lead at Dutch Open

ENGLAND’S Matt Wallace is tied for the lead of the Dutch Open with Frenchman Victor Perez after three rounds at Bernardus Golf.

The pair both sit on 10 under par after Wallace signed for a 70 and Perez a 69 in testing windy conditions.

Wallace saw two early birdies cancelled out by bogeys on the fifth and seventh holes but he picked up another shot at the 12th and then birdied the last to join Perez at the head of the field.

“That is what I kind of wanted to do,” Wallace said. “Start the day and try to get a bit closer to the leaders, and that is what I did, tried to not give away too many shots. Got off to a really nice start those first couple of holes, and if you can, go through level par and pick up a couple, which I did.”

Perez birdied three of his first four holes and then repaired the damage from two bogeys with more birdies at the 10th, 12th and 13th before dropping another shot at the 14th.

“Very pleased,” he said. “Obviously got off to a great start, chip in off the first, and then drove the third which is again a bit of a bonus, you just try to drive it up through that neck and kind of get a straight bounce, it can go either way, so happy to get it up there. Birdied four, so you are off early in tough conditions.”

Wallace and Perez sit one shot clear of a quartet of players – New Zealander Ryan Fox, Australian Scott Hend, Italy’s Guido Migliozzi and Swede Sebastian Soderberg.

The top 15 players were separated by just five shots, with 13 different nationalities represented. As well as the trophy this week, the top three inside the top 10 not already exempt will earn a spot in The 150th Open Championship this summer, with Perez, Wallace and Fox currently set for St Andrews.

Overnight leader Ricardo Gouveia began brilliantly with an eagle at the par-five fourth but things went downhill from there as he slipped to a share of seventh, two shots back, after a 74.

Leading Scot is David Law who shot a 68 to be joint 13th on five under.