Three was the magic number yesterday for Gary Wardlow as he made another trip up north to win the PING Ulster Grand Prix round at Ardglass.
The Edenderry-based former Dunmurry amateur posted a six-under-par 64 that included an eagle three, seven birdie threes and five par threes as he started both halves with five threes.
Wardlow teed-off at the first with a chip-and-putt birdie three, repeated the performance at the third hole and again at the fourth with his longest putt being three feet.
He was hauled back to earth at the seventh hole when he put his three wood approach into bushes and lost he ball to run up double bogey seven.
Out in one-under-par 33, the winner pencilled in eagle three at the long 11th with a drive and wedge to 10 feet, then made back-to-back birdie threes at 13, where he drove the green, and 14, getting down from four feet after reaching the surface with a drive and seven iron.
Another lost ball at the 15th hole cost him bogey six as he made birdie with the second ball but he finished with a flourish again making back-to-back birdie threes at 17 and 18 as he rifled a seven iron to three feet at 17 and pitched to one foot at the last.
However, the performance doesn't get Wardlow into the top eight in the Grand Prix Order of Merit.
The leading eight, after the final event, will qualify for matchplay and topping the list just now is Peter Martin (Riverside Academy) on 56.83 points with Damian Mooney next and David P Jones in third place
