Steve Palmer's Catalunya Championship final-round preview, best bets, free tips

Where to watch

Sky Sports Golf, 1pm Sunday

Best bets

Adrian Meronk to win the Catalunya Championship
1pt each-way 12-1 Coral, Hills, Ladbrokes

Story so far

Oliver Bekker will take a two-shot lead into the final round of the Catalunya Championship in Girona - the South African seeking a maiden DP World Tour title.

Bekker, a pre-tournament 50-1 chance, is no bigger than 13-10 with 18 holes to play at the Stadium Course, PGA Catalunya. The 37-year-old has won seven times on the Sunshine Tour in his homeland.

Third-round tee-times were moved forward to avoid late-afternoon storms - and Bekker handled the early start better than any of the other leaders, carding an eagle at the 15th hole for the second consecutive day.

A four-under-par Saturday back nine put Bekker in command. Laurie Canter is alone in second place, with Italian duo Lorenzo Gagli and Edoardo Molinari tied for third. Last week's champion, Pablo Larrazabal, is in a share of seventh place, five shots behind Bekker.

Leaderboard
-11 Oliver Bekker
-9 Laurie Canter~
-8 Lorenzo Gagli, Edoardo Molinari
-7 Adrian Meronk, Ryan Fox
-6 Bernd Wiesberger, Pablo Larrazabal, Jeff Winther, Richard McEvoy, Ivan Cantero Guitierrez

Best prices
13-10 O Bekker, 7-2 L Canter, 9 E Molinari, 12 A Meronk, R Fox, 16 L Gagli, 18 B Wiesberger, 20 P Larrazabal, 40 J Winther, 100 bar

Final-round preview

Oliver Bekker has made a seamless transition from the Challenge Tour to the DP World Tour - and the in-form Pretorian has been threatening a breakthrough on the main circuit all year.

Aside from a missed cut in windswept Qatar, Bekker has been an almost permanent fixture on DP World Tour leaderboards, with form figures of 9-9-8-11-3-MC-10, and strong Sundays have been a feature of those performances.

Bekker's last five Sunday rounds are 67, 63, 67, 67, 67. This is the first time he has led going into the final round of a DP World Tour event, so obviously the situation and extra pressure may mean a less free-flowing finish to this event, but the leader has galloped to the line impressively from just off the pace in the last three months.

Laurie Canter, a 32-year-old DP World Tour maiden who has let plenty of good chances slip through his fingers in the two previous seasons, pulled a short par putt at the 18th hole in round three to hint that he is again feeling the tension.

With a trio of 30-something DP World Tour maidens in the final Sunday threeball, completed by Lorenzo Gagli, there must be a chance they all drag each other down amid their desperation for a career high. Bekker is the preferred option of the three at 13-10, but a better value option is taking a chance on the pride of Poland - Adrian Meronk.

Having not played since finishing third in the Qatar Masters at the end of March, there was a fair chance of a rusty start to the Catalunya Masters from Meronk, and so it proved. Meronk failed to find top gear over the first two days, but carded nothing worse than a bogey in a pair of 71s. The A-game returned on Saturday, with an eagle and four birdies in a 67 which propelled him to within four shots of the lead.

Meronk bravely holed a mid-range par-putt on the 18th hole, which bode extremely well for Sunday, as he knew he was in the mix. The 28-year-old, who has twice finished second on the DP World Tour, may have found the perfect grade and set of leaderboard rivals to get the job done.

Meronk is blessed with lots of talent and power, but wild shots have cost him when previously in contention. The Saturday storms and the softening of the course should have him licking his lips for the denouement - the track should play easier and only gentle breezes are forecast.

If the leaders tread water, Meronk may get on the birdie train and take full advantage. His lone Challenge Tour victory came across the Spanish border in Portugal.

The final threeball is out at 11.10am UK and Ireland time. Meronk is in the second-from-last group, teeing off at 10.59am.

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