Michael Buttacavoli retains the lead at the Arturo Calle Colombian Coffee Classic
Michael Buttacavoli of the United States held a one-stroke lead over Sebastian Fernandez, Marcelo Rozo and Jose Manuel Garrido, midway through the third round of the Arturo Calle Colombian Coffee Classic Presentado por Avianca.
Buttacavoli carded one birdie against a lone bogey through 11 holes, prior to the inclement weather forcing the game to be suspended on day three.
The American marked a decent start to his campaign at Club Campestre de Cali by carding a two-under par 69 in the first round.
He then made a strong charge on the leaderboard, after firing a six-under par 65 in the second round, to surge to the top.
He now plans to keep the momentum going into the remaining 25 holes that he will complete on Sunday.
According to the tournament organizers, the third round will resume at 7am local time. The expected time for the start of the final round is 9:30 am.
Talking to the PGA Tour Latinoamerica’s official website, Buttacavoli stated that he was really disappointed with his game in the incomplete third round.
He told that he was not able to control his game off the tee and was not able to hit the fairways on regular basis.
However, he still managed to save the pars, thanks to his brilliant short-game, which allowed him to retain the top spot on the leaderboard.
“I was happy with the way a handled a lot of the poor shots I hit early on. I really didn’t hit the ball well throughout the entire day, but I stayed with it and I’m still up there on the leader board, which is great. My putting and chipping really saved
me,” he said.
Colombia’s Marcelo Rozo, in the meantime, got off to a flying start by carding an eagle on the second hole, followed by a birdie putt on the third hole.
After carding birdies on the sixth and the eighth hole, he took the outright lead with an 11-under par overall score.
“I struck the ball extremely well early and the putter was off to a hot start. I felt quite confident and pulled away,” he said.
However, a triple bogey on the ninth hole, followed by another lost shot on the 10th hole dragged him down to the share of the second position.
“It was a very unfortunate triple-bogey, but that’s the way golf is. The good thing is that I’m still in contention,” he said.
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