Coceres extends lead to five

Russell Claydon was envious of fellow heavyweight Darren Clarke's brilliant Matchplay World Championship form, so the burly Englishman went out on Saturday in the Desert Classic and copied the Ulsterman's scintillating display in Dubai rather than California.

A rousing third round of 64 took Claydon into third place behind the leader for a third day, Jose Coceres.

But it may need a heavyweight boxer like Evander Holyfield more than a top weight golfer, to stop Coceres after the Argentinian continued to scatter the field at the Creek, adding a 68 to take a five-shot lead into Sunday's final round on 15-under-par.

It's a chasing Britpack.

Jamie Spence is on 10-under after a 69. Then come Claydon and Lee Westwood, who also shot 68, on nine-under.

Claydon's roly-poly model Clarke is nine off the pace as he battles to rediscover his Carlsbad form. While Clarke muscled to a magnificent victory over Tiger Woods a couple of stone overweight, that is where the copying by Claydon ended.

The Cambridgeshire pro - who once weighed in at over 20 stones - has been on a diet for the last four months. His first fast in 20 years paid off in full as 34-year-old Claydon sizzled to his 64.

That was the old course record before Jarmo Sandelin got to work in the morning to beat it by one.

And Claydon would have matched the Swede but for an untimely and unlucky bogey on the short 16th when his ball rolled down off the green into an awkward lie.

But Claydon, who had to bear being called 'Mr Blobby' for years, has more than a slim chance of ending 18 months of disappointment.

It is that long since he pulled off his maiden European Tour victory, the BMW International in Munich after a string of second places, one of them when he was an amateur coming in 1989 - behind a Greg Norman who predicted big things for him.

It is because the only really big thing that has happened to him, is to put on more and more weight, that Claydon decided to shed his blobbiness.

"I've had to do it because of my health," he said after running in nine birdies on a hot day in Dubai that would normally have sapped his strength.

"When you look at yourself getting bigger and bigger each year you realise you've got to do something about it. I do feel healthier now and I want to keep it up. When you've worked hard for four months to lose it you don't want to give it all away."

Claydon has no idea how much he does weigh but guesses it is still well over the 17 stone he is credited with in the European Tour's players' biography book. He is keen to get to at least that. "It should be easy.

All you do is stuff yourself and eat badly for 20 years and then diet for six months and it falls off you!"

Asked if Clarke should follow his coach Butch Harmon's advice and also diet so that he has more stamina, Claydon snorted: "Darren looked pretty strong when he was wiping the floor with Tiger Woods and he was certainly capable of lifting his cheque.

"It's hard to tell whether dieting has helped or not. I was told that my game might even get away from me at first and I played badly at the start of the season in Australia. I was looking for my ball at pretty well every hole and that's pretty demoralising when you're so far away from home. It was hard to quantify with that sort of form whether it was the diet affecting me or not.

"For today's round, though, I hit the ball really well. In the past to shoot a 64 I'd have needed only 20 putts but I took 29 this time, so it was my game rather than a streak of hot putting." To add weight to his splendid day, he revealed he had not been able to practice for a week before Dubai after injuring his finger on the range.

Despite Coceres' big lead, all three Britons felt the Argentinian could still be caught. Said joint third-placed Westwood: "As you can see, it's possible to shoot 64 as much as it is to shoot 75, as I've proved.

"Big leads are there to be shot at. I was five behind in last year's Dutch Open and seven behind in the European Open going into the last round and won, so anything can happen. I've played with Jose and he's a good player.

"But you can soon fritter away six shots. It only takes you to make two early birdies and him to take two early bogeys and the lead's almost gone.

"I've usually gone on to win from a position like that but I once did get caught by Monty (Colin Montgomerie) in the Irish Open at Druids Glen. It wasn't so much a case of me frittering away the lead though. I shot 72 in the last round and he shot 62!"

Email this page to a friend | Return to top of page