Adilson Da Silva’s seven-under-par 65 on Saturday was a giant leap towards sealing the top spot on the Legends Tour’s MCB Road to Mauritius title even as one of his nearest competitors raced to the top of the leaderboard in the MCB Tour Championship.
Da Silva had looked lacklustre in his first round of two-under-par, but he looked every inch the champion in waiting as he went bogey-free in search of the kind of golf he knew he was ready to play.
He made birdie on the first hole, and the show was on the road. “I started much more confidently than yesterday,” he said. “I felt like I hit the ball better than yesterday because the focus was there. Mentally, I felt a completely different person. That’s how I felt at the beginning of the week. If I can get out on the course and I can get into it, then I’m happy. I don’t care what the result is.”
Although England’s Peter Baker fired a sublime 62 to carry a one-stroke advantage into the final round at the Legend Course at Constance Belle Mare Plage in Mauritius, Da Silva has one hand on the trophy for being the tour’s number one player after finishing second for the last two years.
Baker leads heading into the final round at 12-under-par, Sapin’s Carl Suneson is second on 11-under and Greig Hutcheon of Scotland is third on 10-under. Da Silva is in a share of fourth on nine-under with, amongst other, James Kingston.
The equation is simple for the Englishman: Baker knew coming into the week that he needed to win and hope that Da Silva finishes outside the top 35 for him to retain his Order of Merit title. “I won’t think about that,” said Da Silva. “That’s something that I can’t control. That’s what I did well today. Yesterday, there was a lot of stuff going on in my head, and on and on and on. I had to tell myself I’m not here to think about what could happen, or what should happen. I’m here to play golf, and today I forgot all about those things. I know if I can play my own game, I can play well.”
One shot behind Da Silva were Doug McGuigan, who had a brilliant eight-under-par 64 with nine birdies, and Keith Horne, who bogeyed the 18th as he ground his way to a two-under-par 70. They were in a share of eighth.
