Golf | The young Dane lost his six-stroke lead in a nightmarish fashion on the European Tour

Danish Rasmus Højgaard started the third round of the golf European tour competition in France in an exceptional situation on Saturday.

On the Le Golf National course, which served as the arena for the 2018 Ryder Cup, Højgaard led the competition by as many as six strokes over the next competitor, and the pursuit of his fourth career victory on the main European tour was quite well on track.

Højgaard had set his two-round record for par on the course (71) after playing scores of 62 and 65 and being 15 under par.

However, the start of the third round was a nightmare for the 21-year-old Højgaard. With three holes to go, he had lost his lead.

The opening hole was managed with a par, but on the second hole, the 125-meter par three, something happened. Højgaard hit the ball three times into the water.

In the opening shot the ball curved a little too much to the left, hit the edge of the green and rolled off it into the water. The next shots started from a shorter distance, the so-called drop zone.

The first two of them fell just short, ending up in the water, and it was only the third, or the seventh stroke taking penalty shots into account, that stopped on the green.

Højgaard sank the two-meter Putin and got the result eight.

When on the next hole (par 5) the opening shot hit the water hazard and the result was a bogey, the six-stroke lead was lost.

After that, Højgaard got his game back on balance, making two birdies midway through the round to retake the lead.

He also starts the final round in the lead, but now only one stroke ahead at -12.

Højgaard’s most recent victory on the European tour comes from more than a year ago, when he won the Swiss event.

The very next week, his twin brother was in the winning turn in Italy Nikolai Højgaard.

This season, Rasmus Højgaard has finished tenth twice at his best.

Sami Välimäki (–2) shares 37th place in France. Tapio Pulkanen dropped to 60th place and +1 after a failed 75.