Coltart makes his mark

Andrew Coltart today made the most of his good fortune with a third-round 65 in the BMW International Open in Munich.

Coltart survived the halfway cut on the mark at four under par at Nord-Eichenried, largely thanks to a hole-in-one on the second hole of his second round on Friday.

It was the 33-year-old Scot’s third ace on the European Tour, although he missed out on the £40,000 BMW on offer for a hole-in-one on the par-three 17th.

But today’s flawless 65 at least gave the former Ryder Cup player a chance at an even more lucrative pay-day tomorrow.

Three birdies on the front nine, including one at the second, took Coltart out in 33, and after another at the 13th he finished in style with three in a row to jump from a tie for last into the top five.

He was still four shots behind halfway leader Robert Karlsson however, the Swede carding rounds of 65 and 64 to be 15 under par.

Winner here in 1997 and defending champion in next week’s European Masters, Karlsson was two shots ahead of France’s Raphael Jacquelin with England’s Gary Emerson and another Swede, Peter Hedblom, another shot behind.

Coltart had joined fellow Scot Stephen Gallacher and Lee Westwood on 11 under, former European number one Westwood showing signs of a return to form after almost three years without a win.

World number two Ernie Els finished with a birdie on the 18th, but that was only good enough for a 74 and at three under par, the pre-tournament favourite world number two was almost last of the 71 surviving players.

Meanwhile, Austria’s Markus Brier won a Rolex watch for his eagle two on the 16th during his 69, taking advantage of the tee being brought forward to drive the green (a distance of 271 yards) and holing from 20 feet.

Spare a thought for Jamie Donaldson though, the Welshman repeating the trick less than an hour later, but finding the watch had already gone.