Golf-Jacquelin ties record with 12-birdie blitz, Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin equalled the European Tour record for the most birdies in a round on Saturday, reeling off 12 in a course record 10-under-par 62 at the Turkish Airlines Open.
The bearded Jacquelin, who won the Spanish Open in April, started his third round like an express train as he picked up shots at each of the opening four holes.
The 39-year-old produced another scintillating run of four consecutive birdies from the eighth before signing off in equally thrilling fashion with a four-birdie sequence at the 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th.
Jacquelin's round sent him rocketing through the field and he finished high up the third-round leaderboard on a 15-under total of 201 at the Montgomerie Maxx Royal course on the Mediterranean coast of Antalya.
His 12-birdie haul tied the tour record held by British pair Darren Clarke (1999) and Russell Claydon (1995), American Fred Couples (1991), South African Ernie Els (1994) and Dane Jeppe Huldahl (2010).
The four-times tour winner had a good chance to claim the record outright. His curling 20-footer at the 18th was right on line but wound up just short of the hole.
The smiling Jacquelin walked off to sign his card to cries of 'ooh la la' from a small posse of French fans sitting by the final green.
The only blot on his card came at the short fifth where he took a double-bogey five.
FINAL SERIES
The inaugural $7 million Turkish Open is the penultimate event of the tour's new end-of-season Final Series that also comprises two tournaments in China and next week's concluding DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
"I didn't know I was close to equalling the record," Jacquelin told Reuters in an interview on a day of glorious sunshine. "I was really struggling coming into this Final Series and I've just been trying to get my rhythm back.
"That's the key to my swing, rhythm, but from the start of this week I felt I was getting better contact on the ball," he said after eclipsing world number one Tiger Woods's second-round 63 from Friday.
"I've hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens and around this course you know if you do that, you can go low."
A glance at Jacquelin's last eight tour results gave no hint of Saturday's record-equalling show, with three missed cuts and the best performance a tie for 48th position at the BMW Masters in Shanghai two weeks ago.
"I've been practising hard like everybody else but it's all about what goes on in your head really," he said, shrugging his shoulders.
"If you don't feel confident, if you don't trust in yourself in this game, then you've got no chance.
"Hitting the ball better at the start of this week helped to clear my head and I've been trusting myself a bit more.
"You suddenly make some birdies, you're back on your game and away you go. It's a crazy game really, for crazy players," laughed Jacquelin
The bearded Jacquelin, who won the Spanish Open in April, started his third round like an express train as he picked up shots at each of the opening four holes.
The 39-year-old produced another scintillating run of four consecutive birdies from the eighth before signing off in equally thrilling fashion with a four-birdie sequence at the 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th.
Jacquelin's round sent him rocketing through the field and he finished high up the third-round leaderboard on a 15-under total of 201 at the Montgomerie Maxx Royal course on the Mediterranean coast of Antalya.
His 12-birdie haul tied the tour record held by British pair Darren Clarke (1999) and Russell Claydon (1995), American Fred Couples (1991), South African Ernie Els (1994) and Dane Jeppe Huldahl (2010).
The four-times tour winner had a good chance to claim the record outright. His curling 20-footer at the 18th was right on line but wound up just short of the hole.
The smiling Jacquelin walked off to sign his card to cries of 'ooh la la' from a small posse of French fans sitting by the final green.
The only blot on his card came at the short fifth where he took a double-bogey five.
FINAL SERIES
The inaugural $7 million Turkish Open is the penultimate event of the tour's new end-of-season Final Series that also comprises two tournaments in China and next week's concluding DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
"I didn't know I was close to equalling the record," Jacquelin told Reuters in an interview on a day of glorious sunshine. "I was really struggling coming into this Final Series and I've just been trying to get my rhythm back.
"That's the key to my swing, rhythm, but from the start of this week I felt I was getting better contact on the ball," he said after eclipsing world number one Tiger Woods's second-round 63 from Friday.
"I've hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens and around this course you know if you do that, you can go low."
A glance at Jacquelin's last eight tour results gave no hint of Saturday's record-equalling show, with three missed cuts and the best performance a tie for 48th position at the BMW Masters in Shanghai two weeks ago.
"I've been practising hard like everybody else but it's all about what goes on in your head really," he said, shrugging his shoulders.
"If you don't feel confident, if you don't trust in yourself in this game, then you've got no chance.
"Hitting the ball better at the start of this week helped to clear my head and I've been trusting myself a bit more.
"You suddenly make some birdies, you're back on your game and away you go. It's a crazy game really, for crazy players," laughed Jacquelin
