Martin Kaymer leads third round at Gary Player’s Country Club
Round 3 at the Gary Player Country Club saw some spectacular golf, on Saturday, with Martin Kaymer swinging in from the 2nd position to take the lead, which American Bill Haas and Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts had maintained earlier on.
The front nine saw a slight hiccup in his performance with Kaymer bogeying on hole three. However, as the day would have it, he performed exceedingly well thereafter.
He struck birdies on holes nine, 13 and 14 that put a two-under on the scorecard for round one, and a five-under for the tournament thus far.
“I just played very solid – I hit a lot of fairways again and hit a lot of good putts,” a visibly excited Kaymer said after the event. “I also had a lot of lip-outs, so it could have been a little bit better, but two-under par is a very acceptable round”.
Hole 14, given the edgy fairways, was Kaymer’s best drive off the tee that day, covering a marked 550 yards.
“I think a big putt for me was (also) on the 12th – I hit a putt from 10 feet downhill and right-to-left to save par and that gave me the motivation to keep playing well”.
The weather during this Golf Challenge can only be described as menacing: windy, overcast, and on the brink of pouring.
There is little wonder why most players, unable to escape the chasing pack, ended the day tallying within shots of each other. As if the Kikuyu rough was not enough worry.
Bill Haas, who had led the opening round of the tournament, on Thursday, finally gave way to pressure, crashing at no. 4 with the defending champion, Lee Westwood.
Westwood’s performance has been a serious disappointment. The two-time Nedbank winner is a favourite for a hattrick this season.
If he can pull that off, it will be a feat unprecedented in the Challenge’s history. Currently, the Worksop-based 39-year old, after poignant bogeys on holes 12 and 13 yesterday, still lingers at no. 4.
Kaymer’s decisive drive helped bring the Ryder Cup to Europe, and if the Cup’s star can affect similar deeds at Sun City on Sunday, there will be a great deal to cheer about.
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