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Michael Hoey finished one of Volvo Golf Champions in Durban which left him trailing clubhouse leader Thongchai Jaidee by seven shots, and signing for a level par round of 72. For Hoey it was all about four dropped shots in the final three holes that dropped him back into the chasing pack.
Hoey was four under with three to play, but blocked his drive at the 16th and then had another double-bogey on the 273-yard last after losing a ball in bushes, and came up with an unusual explanation for his bad finish. “I felt so bloated,” said the former British amateur champion, winner last March of the Hassan Trophy in Morocco.
“I drank so much yesterday (when it was much hotter) and did the same, but I lost so much concentration. It was weird — I couldn’t swing it properly.”
Padraig Harrington signed for two under par a 70, as did Shane Lowry,
Jaidee holds a three shot lead over Ernie Els and Louis Oosthuizen but it was not the Thai golfer’s superb seven-under-par 65 that Els found himself mostly talking about afterwards, but one particular shot from Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts. The British Open champion could not believe his eyes when Europe’s biggest hitter launched a drive of 419 yards at the downwind third hole.
“I’ve been coming here since 1986 I think and I’ve never seen a ball there, nobody has,” Els said. “They should put a plaque down. I was coming from a different zip code. And I’ve got to compete against these animals!”
Els had the last laugh, though. He matched his playing partner’s birdie and out-scored him by five to keep his victory hopes firmly alive.
Jaidee, part of the 33-strong winners-only field thanks to his victory at the Wales Open last June, was out on his own from the time he birdied six of the first 10 holes. The 43-year-old led by five at one point, but that was cut to three late in the day despite the two South African stars having to contend with heavy rain.
“We probably got the bad side of the draw, but that’s part of golf,” said Oosthuizen, who faced similar conditions during his runaway seven-shot win in the 2010 Open at St Andrews.
He and Els still had the advantage of local knowledge, however. Jaidee is on his first-ever trip to South Africa. “I enjoy the course,” he said. “You have to think a lot — I hit the driver on only two holes — and put a three-iron in my bag only 15 minutes before we teed off.”
Seven players share fourth place with Scottish trio Paul Lawrie, Richie Ramsay and Scott Jamieson all shooting 69, as did Welshman Jamie Donaldson, England’s Danny Willett, Dane Thomas Bjorn and Indian Jeev Milkha Singh. Lawrie got the better of playing partner Colin Montgomerie by three after an unusual start to their round.
There was a 10-minute hold-up on the opening green because the flagstick was stuck in the hole and damage was caused in yanking it out. “I’ve never seen that before,” said Lawrie, who then came close to winning an excavator when his six-iron tee shot to the 170-yard 15th hit the flag, but stayed out.
Jamieson knows only too well what the weather can be like in the city. It was only last month that he won at nearby Royal Durban in an event reduced to 36 holes because of rain.
Paul Casey — winner in Bahrain two years ago, but unable to defend last year after dislocating his shoulder snowboarding — could do no better than 74 like Jose Maria Olazabal and Darren Clarke who was one worse than that like defending champion Branden Grace.
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