Fuente: © Southern Africa Tour
http://www.sunshinetour.com/

SOUTHERN AFRICA TOUR: Schwartzel looking to wrap up Vodacom Tour Champs

/noticias.info/ Charl Schwartzel stands just 18 holes away from wrapping up the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit for the second year running, and winning the season-ending Vodacom Tour Championship in the process.

Of course, as any golfer knows, a lot can happen (both good and bad) in 18 holes so nothing is sealed yet. And a lot did happen in yesterday's third round at Pretoria Country Club.

James Kamte, bidding to become the first black South African champion of a tournament of this calibre since Papwa Sewgolum captured the Natal Open in 1965, started the day in the lead on seven-under-par 135.

But nothing went right for the 23-year-old pro from Glendower as he ballooned to a 76.

Schwartzel, by contrast, blitzed the tight, tree-lined course with its 95 nasty pot bunkers with a six-under-par 65 - 11 shots better than Kamte.

So Maccauvlei's Schwartzel on 10-under-par 203 leads by three from Centurion Country Club's Darren Fichardt who signed for a 70 and a 206 aggregate, with Warren Abery of Mount Edgecombe Country Club next best on 209, also after a 70.

Kamte, meanwhile, has dropped back into a share of 10th spot on 211.

If a lot happened yesterday as far as the overall picture is concerned, there was also plenty of excitement in Schwartzel's round.

For instance, he had to up-and-down (in other words chip and one-putt) to save par on the first three holes, and to avoid a double-bogey six at the fourth.

"That was a decidedly shaky start to the day and I was hitting the ball all over the place," he later admitted. But, to his credit, his putter (or rather his new putter) was red-hot - something that was absent last week in the Telkom PGA won by Frenchman Gregory Bourdy when for Schwartzel the so-called flat stick had been ice-cold.

Armed with a new "Two-Ball" Odyssey and a new "claw" grip similar to the one used by Chris DiMarco, single putts at the first four holes were followed by more of the same at No 5 (14ft), No 6 (12ft), No 8 (2ft), No 9 (a tricky seven-footer) and No 10 (10ft).

That added up to just 11 putts in 10 holes. His only other bogey was at the 14th but he finished strongly with birdies at 15, 17 (a curling 20-footer) and the par-five 18th where he was up in two and two-putted.

The benefits for topping the Order of Merit include a spot in this year's British Open at Hoylake and the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City, as well as a bunch of other potentially lucrative exemptions on the world circuits.

But Schwartzel says he is trying to block all that out of his mind. "Right now I've got a tournament to try and win, and I don't want to put any extra pressure on myself by thinking about all that stuff."

Quite simply, though, it is hard not to imagine Schwartzel winning the Order of Merit and becoming the first player since John Bland in 1990/91 to be No 1 in Southern Africa for two years running.

The 21-year-old is an extraordinary talent, very close to being the best under-25 player in world golf. Bourdy currently tops the Order of Merit money-chase with R925 594 with Schwartzel second on R890 459.

But the Frenchman is languishing in 39th spot on seven-over-par 220 here at Pretoria CC, and chances are that the young South African will fly past him today - even if he doesn't win the R2-million tournament, which offers a first prize of R317 000.

A high finish should be sufficient.

Fichardt lost his European Tour card last year but regained his playing privileges for 2006 at the Q-school and is playing well again.

"Today I missed a few short putts which was frustrating," he said. "But I'm still only three shots behind Charl and, yes, a lot can happen in 18 holes. We're very good friends and will be playing together tomorrow, hopefully both about to shoot the lights out."

Six players - Mark Murless, Michiel Bothma, Hennie Otto, Desvonde Botes, Ross Wellington and SA's No 1 amateur Charl Coetzee from Bellville Golf Club - are bracketed on 210 in joint fourth place, with Kamte, Peter Karmis, Thomas Aiken and Louis Oosthuizen lumped together on 211. notas_de_prensa_archivo