Ernie Els produced an untidy finish to his third round but did enough to still lead the field into the final day of the Caltex Masters, presented by Carlsberg, Singapore 2003, at the Laguna National Golf and Country Club.
The World Number Two appeared to be cruising after a flawless first 16 holes on another scorching Singapore Saturday, but a wickedly pulled tee shot at the short 17th cost him a bogey four, before he let a four foot putt for par spin out of the hole at the 18th.
In the end Els had to settle for a 70 and a ten under par total of 206, two clear of China’s Lian-Wei Zhang, who carded a 69 for 208, and three in front of Thailand’s Prayad Marksaeng, who matched Zhang’s 69 for 209, and Scotland’s Simon Yates, who carded 72.
“I started the day with a one shot lead, now I have a two shot lead,” said Els. “It looked good for a while but some of the other guys played really well coming in so tomorrow is going to be a tough day.
“There are some guys really close to me so I’ve just got to try and play the way I have been and hope for the best. You have just got to try and hit fairways and greens and try and make putts and that is what I will try and do tomorrow.
“With a two shot lead I really have got to knuckle down and play, it is a different ball game now. If you have five shots in hand you can maybe take it a bit easier but this is not really anything of a lead.”
When Els reached the turn in flawless figures of 33 to lead by exactly five, it did begin to look like a procession with the rest of the field struggling to stay on the coat-tails of the South African.
When he birdied the long 11th to stretch his lead further, things looked even more ominous for the chasing pack, but it was to be his final birdie of the day, scrambled pars at the 14th and 15th, preceeding his dropped shots at the 17th and 18th, as his competitors took the advantage to make up ground.
Biggest mover was Chinaman Zhang, the 37 year old from Shenzen, who birdied the 15th and 17th to move into second place on his own. The former Asian Match Play champion has wins to his credit over Colin Montgomerie and Nick Price in the old Alfred Dunhill Cup, but the final round, partnering Els, will be his biggest test in a stroke play format.
“I am very pleased with where I am in the tournament,” said Zhang. “I played well today but I will have to do even better tomorrow. I played with Ernie Els some years ago when he played an event on the Asian Tour, but he is a better player now and he will be very difficult to beat. But I will try my best.”
In joint third, Marksaeng recovered well from two three putts early in his round, caused by putting cack-handed for the first time in his career, to roll in birdie efforts from 14 feet at the 13th and 20 feet at the 17th.
“In the final round I will just try and do the same, hit fairways and greens and try and make some putts,” he said. “But the main thing I must do is hit the fairways as the rough is very difficult here. I cannot really see me catching Els, but second place would be great.”
Sharing third place with Marksaeng was Thailand-based Scot Yates, who produced the best recovery of the day, coming back from a disasterous front nine of 38 to birdie three of his last four holes for a 72.
Unlike the Thai golfer however, the Scot refused to give up the chase. “Ernie is hitting his drives a bit erratically but he got away with it today. He is only three shots ahead of me so there is still a chance,” he said.
“I like the heat so that will not be a factor for me and it might help that I am not in the final three ball with Ernie. So we will see what happens.”
