Charl holds lead - Joburg Open 2012

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Charl holds lead

16 JANUARY 2010: Charl Schwartzel’s second consecutive round of error-free golf saw him into a four-stroke lead after the third round of the €1.3-million Joburg Open being played on the par-71 Royal Johannesburg and Kensington East course on Saturday, 16 January.

Pulling four shots clear

The tournament is the richest of the four Sunshine Tour events co-sanctioned by the European Tour, and is the fourth in the 2010 Race to Dubai.

Schwartzel carded five birdies on his way in on the 6,940-metre (7,592-yard) East course, having made two on his outward nine to sign for a seven-under 64 and stretch clear of the pursuing pack led by Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke.

Schwartzel kept his cool during a weather delay that lasted over two hours, and then went out and got those five birdies in a display of golf which has left the rest of the field scratching their heads about how to stop the juggernaut after he won the Africa Open last week.

“With two hours of waiting, I was sitting around thinking it would be nice to go round in four under for the back nine and get a couple ahead, and I managed to make it five,” he said.

It all began for him on 10, when he made a good up and down out of a bunker. “That kind of thing just keeps a round alive,” he said.

He hit a good seven iron in to the 12th for a birdie on the 181-metre (200-yard) par-three.

“And then, all of a sudden, I started hitting a lot of good shots and converting the putts,” he said.

Clarke finished on four-under 67 for a three-round total of 199, but he was not happy with his putting: “I had two putts out of nowhere go in from 20 feet, but I missed some short ones, which was very frustrating,” he said.

“I’ve had six weeks off, so I’m getting back into tournament golf. I played well in East London, but just couldn’t score in the Africa Open, and now I have to play really well in the final round to catch Charl,” he added.

Strong showing from Norther Ireland's Darren Clarke

It will not be an easy task, as Schwartzel is riding a wave of confidence: “I’ve probably felt in control of my game to this level before, but what has really changed for me is that I’m in control of my emotions,” he said.

“I feel very focused out there, and I’m letting things happen instead of forcing it. It’s probably a little bit of experience coming through. I think confidence can also play a big part in this. When you start playing well and you hole a few putts, you get very confident,” he said.

Behind Clarke, Sunshine Tour veteran Hendrik Buhrmann shot a two-under 69 to lift himself into sole possession of third on 12-under 201, with a group of five players on 11-under 202, including South Africa’s Alex Haindl who had the round of the day with his six-under 65.

Also on 202 were South Africans Jaco van Zyl, Hennie Otto, and James Kamte, with England’s Danny Willett rounding out the group after he battled his way to a one-under 70 following his opening rounds of 65 and 67.

With more storm activity predicted for the final day, play will begin at 7am from a two-tee start, with the leaders going off at 9am.

Scores

(RSA unless specified)

195 - Charl Schwartzel 63 68 64
199 - Darren Clarke (NIR) 63 69 67
201 - Hendrik Buhrmann 68 64 69
202 - Alex Haindl 71 66 65, Jaco Van Zyl 71 64 67, Hennie Otto 67 66 69, James Kamte 67 66 69, Danny Willett (ENG) 65 67 70
203 - Alejandro Canizares (ESP) 66 69 68, Paul Broadhurst (ENG) 66 68 69, Neil Schietekat 62 72 69, Keith Horne 68 65 70, Jbe' Kruger 63 69 71
204 - Soren Hansen (DEN) 66 70 68, Tjaart van der Walt 67 70 67, TC Charamba (ZIM) 68 68 68, Michael Hoey (NIR) 68 69 67, Joost Luiten (NED) 66 69 69, John Parry (ENG) 66 67 71
205 - Marcel Siem (GER) 67 69 69, Josh Cunliffe 68 70 67, Peter Whiteford(SCO) 66 69 70, Oliver Bekker 70 64 71, David Lynn (ENG) 63 67 75
206 - Warren Abery 69 67 70, Louis Oosthuizen 70 66 70, Titch Moore 68 68 70, Clodomiro Carranza (ARG) 65 70 71, Simon Thornton (IRL) 70 65 71, Jamie Elson (ENG) 71 67 68
207 - Robert Dinwiddie (ENG) 70 66 71, Ariel Canete (ARG) 68 69 70, Gary Lockerbie (ENG) 70 66 71, Fredrik Andersson Hed (SWE) 69 68 70, Deane Pappas 67 68 72, Darren Fichardt 67 68 72, Brandon Pieters 70 69 68, Andrew McArthur (SCO) 65 74 68
208 - Neil Cheetham (ENG) 67 69 72, Shaun Norris 67 70 71, Raphael Jacquelin (FRA) 66 69 73, Kevin Stone 72 63 73, Dawie Van der Walt 70 68 70, Andrew McLardy 67 67 74, Prinavin Nelson 71 68 69
209 - Branden Grace 67 70 72, Richard Sterne 67 69 73, Carl Suneson (ESP) 66 70 73, Alexandre Kaleka (FRA) 71 67 71, Christian Ries 68 70 71, Michael Lorenzo-Vera (FRA) 70 68 71, Trevor Fisher Jnr 72 67 70, Julien Quesne (FRA) 69 70 70, Robert Rock (ENG) 68 71 70, Edoardo Molinari (ITA) 70 69 70, Carlos Rodiles (ESP) 69 70 70
210 - Marc Cayeux (ZIM) 70 67 73, Ross Wellington 68 69 73, Andrew Marshall (ENG) 69 69 72, Dave Horsey (ENG) 68 71 71, Andrew Curlewis 68 66 76, Phillip Price (WAL) 72 67 71, Ryan Tipping 72 67 71
211 - Mark Brown (NZL) 71 66 74, Adilson da Silva (BRA) 66 71 74, Barry Lane (ENG) 65 72 74, Rhys Davies (WAL) 73 66 72, Grant Muller 71 68 72
212 - Justin Walters (RSA) 71 67 74, Theunis Spangenberg 71 68 73, Sam Hutsby (ENG) 70 69 73, Teboho Sefatsa 69 70 73
213 - Simon Khan (ENG) 63 74 76, Alan McLean (SCO) 71 66 76
214 - Jacques Blaauw 68 68 78
216 - Christiaan Basson 67 72 77, Vaughn Groenewald 69 70 77

Source: Sunshine Tour