Els increases lead again to four shots

Ernie Els has increased his break over the rest of the field to take a four-shot lead into the final round of the Heineken Classic at Royal Melbourne.

A third successive sub-70 round from the South African was good enough to build a lead on the majority of the field.

Peter O’Malley sits in second place after shooting a 70 but he was the only one of the leading contenders from yesterday, aside from Els, to post a sub-par round.

Els’ stranglehold on a tournament he has led from the beginning, looked like loosening when at one stage Stephen Leaney headed him.

But while Leaney faded with successive bogeys on 11 and 12, Els shot an all-important eagle on the 10th to get to 14-under.

There he stayed for the remainder of the round to keep his overnight lead in tact.

But Els said despite his break he doesn’t feel his first European Tour victory in 18 months is a foregone conclusion.

“I don’t know if I’m all that comfortable” he said, “You’ve got to be careful when the wind’s blowing out there.”

He said he was pleased with the way he finished his round. Els had three birdies, an eagle and two bogeys in the first ten holes before eight successive pars on the way home.

“I had a bit of a shaky start but after six I really thought I played OK,” he said.

In contrast O’Malley’s round was consistent to begin with, reaching the tenth tee even-par. But birdies on 10,12 and 14 got the New South Welshmen going and if not for a bogey on the 17th and a missed birdie putt on the last, he could have finished closer to the dual US Open champion.

The major drama of the day came when Mark Pilkington was penalised two shots for an illegal drop on the 15th. The Welshman, who had been high on the leaderboard all week drops back to five-under after the penalty.

It was determined that under rule 20-7 he had taken his drop about three metres left of where he should have. The officials decided the breach wasn't serious enough to warrant Pilkington's disqualification.

A group of five players sit at eight-under including dual-defending champion Michael Campbell, who made his move today with a 68.

That was the equal best round for the day, which was a marked contrast to Els’ 64 on Thursday and Richard Lee’s course record 62 yesterday.

The main difference has been the weather. Overnight rain dampened the greens, with a freshening breeze getting up in the afternoon.

Els said this made a big difference,

“The greens were a bit softer out there so you could be a bit more aggressive,” he said.

Lee followed his extraordinary deeds yesterday with a spectacular start today. He chipped in for eagle from 75 metres at the first to get to nine-under. At one stage the little-known Kiwi got to ten-under but successive bogeys on 15 and 16 dropped him back.

It was the same story for Leaney, who for about ten minutes after his birdie on the tenth grabbed the lead. But four bogeys on the way home stalled the Western Australian and he has to be content with a share of third.

Also at eight-under are Barry Lane and David Howell. Lane, like Campbell had a 68 today.

Els’ playing partner Greg Norman, meanwhile, battled his way through the early holes, until birdies on 6,9 and 10 got him to ten-under. But ‘The Shark’ struggled in the breeze and a bogey on the 12th seemed to deflate Norman. He finished seven under, equal eighth with a host of players including Nick Faldo, Adam Scott and Robert Allenby.

Faldo rediscovered his form from Thursday to shoot a 69 today, while Allenby was unlucky not to get closer after having two eagle putts lip out.

The best of the morning rounds came from Greg Owen, Scott Hend and Steen Tinning who all shot 68’s after starting the day one-under.

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