A plugged lie in the greenside bunker on the last hole derailed Charl Schwartzel’s hard work at the Nedbank Golf Challenge on Saturday, writes WADE PRETORIUS.
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Schwartzel has kept his name there and thereabouts for the duration of the tournament, despite not having anywhere near his ‘A game’ at Sun City this week.
Schwartzel with a plugged lie off the 18th #NGC2017 pic.twitter.com/8eERzEy051
— Compleat Golfer (@CompleatGolfer) November 11, 2017
After another battling performance, he arrived at the 18th tee four off the lead and two-under for the day; well within striking distance of what would be a famous win. A hybrid down the right – he was bunkered off the tee yesterday when he used driver – meant he was further back than expected with his approach, and despite it being struck well enough it just found the greenside bunker and inexplicably plugged in the hard sand at the lip.
Charl’s face when he saw his ball in the bunker on 18… pic.twitter.com/ZvNDNpSy7G
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) November 11, 2017
The lie was so severe that despite his best efforts, he could not advance the ball and looked on as it trickled back into the sand, and then failed to get up and down to drop two shots to fall back into the pack at -2 with 18 to play.
And the attempted escape… pic.twitter.com/7dQmguhsra
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) November 11, 2017
Earlier, Schwartzel made the turn in even par after a bogey at the ninth undid his birdie 3 at the sixth. Birdies at 10 and 15 saw him sit safely at the top of the chasing pack until that horror lie on the last.
While not completely out of it, Schwartzel will need to find a more consistent game, and start seeing his putter heat up dramatically if he wants to come from deep to take the title home tomorrow afternoon.
A small consolation, for local fans and not the 2011 Masters champ, is that there is every chance he will be paired with close friend Louis Oosthuizen in the final round.
At the top, Scott Jamieson fired a brilliant bogey-free 67 to move to -8 to take a one-shot lead over Victor Dubuisson into the final round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge hosted by Gary Player.
The Scotsman’s only previous European Tour win came in South Africa at the 2013 Nelson Mandela Championship, but he will be going in search of Rolex Series glory on Sunday.
Photo: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
