Little fires hole-in-one

Stuart Little fired a hole in one in the third round of the Wales Open today - but still found himself eight shots off the lead.

Little holed out with a five iron from 190 yards on the second hole at Celtic Manor to improveto six under par for the tournament.

However, after two days of low scoring over the par-69 Roman Road course – at just 6,743 yards the shortest course used on the European Tour – the 38-year-old left-hander was still a long way behind overnight leader Robert Karlsson.

Karlsson carded rounds of 61 and 63 for a halfway total of 124, a new tour record, and a four-shot lead over English trio Phillip Archer, Paul Broadhurst and Simon Dyson.

Colin Montgomerie, five under for seven holes of his second round, was a shot further back after being forced to settle for a 66.

Broadhurst, currently eighth in the Ryder Cup standings 15 years after his solitary appearance in the contest at Kiawah Island, has far from given up hope of catching the impressive Swede.

“I might be a bit behind but Robert hasn’t been in contention for a while either so it will be a big weekend for him too,” he said.

“I know he has been playing well enough, you do keep an eye on people’s scores, but perhaps he hasn’t been putting four rounds together.

“It might be his turn this week, but if I put another two 64s in I’ll be disappointed not to win.”