Aberdonian Michael Sim back in contention
with another 65 in Aussie PGA title chase
FROM THE AUSTRALIAN PGA WEBSITE:
The race for the 2007 Cadbury Schweppes Australian PGA Championship is wide open with Rory Sabbatini leading by just a shot from five rivals after 54 holes at Coolum Resort, Queensland.
The South African world No. 11 added a five-under 67 to earlier rounds of 68 and 67 to move to 14-under and the narrowest of leads from Aberdonian Michael Sim, American Jason Gore, two-time champion Peter Lonard, young Aussies Adam Bland and Kiwi David Smail.
Gore posted the low round of the tournament on Day 3, missing the course record by just one as he carded an eight-under 64, while Lonard signed for a 68, Bland shot 65, Sim did likewise for the second time in three days and Smail also put up a 67.
Overnight leader Adam Scott had a day to forget but rallied to shoot 72 and shares seventh place with Victorians Richard Green (66) and Cameron Percy (70) and New South Wales duo Scott Gardiner (67) and Steven Conran (68) on 10-under.
Defending champion Nick O'Hern and his fellow Western Australian Stephen Leaney leapt to minus nine with matching 65s, and they are level with Victorian Scott Laycock (71) and American Ryan Moore (66).
With the greens softened by overnight rain and the temperature hovering in the mid-20s with only a light breeze, Gore had a brilliant front nine as he picked up an eagle and four birdies in five holes, and two further birdies coming home took him to the top.
"They say it can always be better but I'm pretty happy with the way it was," Gore said. "I got off to a good start, so that always makes it a little bit easier on the back nine for sure, especially how difficult and tricky this back nine is."
But each time Gore pulled clear he was reeled in, firstly by Lonard, who had another bogey-free round that included three birdies in four holes to the turn and a fourth at the 12th.
Sabbatini started superbly with birdies at the first two holes but with his playing partner Scott not having the best of days the South African bogeyed the fifth to fall behind.
Two more birdies in a row undid that damage but he then gave back another shot at the 10th, before three birdies in his final six holes saw him surge clear with a round remaining.
"It's always good to be in the final group going into Sunday's round," Sabbatini said. "I was a lot happier with the way I played today, I just felt like I was more in control of the golf ball and managed to stay focussed out there.
"Unfortunately I had a couple of poor executions on the front that led to some bogeys but other than that, I was very happy with the way I played."
First-round leader Michael Sim, who followed his opening 65 with a 73 on Friday despite starting with an early eagle, roared back into contention with another flawless performance of his own, including four birdies in six holes after the turn.
"I played well, I hit a few average shots on the front nine," Sim said. "I missed a six-foot putt on 17 and made a bomb on 15 and chipped in on 12 so I can't really say I left anything out there, no."
Smail was only two shots from the lead overnight and steadily maintained his lofty place on the leaderboard with five birdies during his round, while Bland picked up birdie quartets before and after the turn, the last of them a superb chip from the bunker at 18 that was reminiscent of O'Hern's winning shot at the fourth play-off hole in 2006.
Having already seen his lead disappear, Scott began with a bogey at the third but looked back on track with successive birdies at eight and nine before disaster struck when he took three shots to get up onto the 12th green.
From the edge of the green he two-putted for a triple-bogey 8 to slump to eight-under, but birdies at the 15th and 18th holes at least gave him hope of a maiden Australian win if he can get going on Sunday.
O'Hern actually began his day with a bogey at the first but responded brilliantly with eight birdies to haul himself back into contention, while Leaney's round was littered with nine birdies but a couple of bogeys prevented him matching the course record.
Greg Chalmers and Kiwi Michael Long both shot 66 to be eight-under with Ryan Haller (68), while JB Holmes (70), Michael Brennan (71), Craig Scott (69) and Brad Kennedy (71) are equal 19th on minus seven.
HOME NOTE: It was reported in The Press and Journal this week that Michael Sim had not been back to his birthplace of Aberdeen since his family emigrated in 1991 when he was seven.
Michael's father George, now a businessman in Australia, has knocked that statement on the head. "Michael was back in Aberdeen in 2004 when he returned to Scotland to play in the British amateur championship at St Andrews. When he was in Aberdeen, he played a round over Royal Aberdeen," says George.
So now you know.
THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
202 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 68 67 67
203 Michael Sim 65 73 65, Adam Bland 68 70 65, David Smail (Nzl) 67 69 67, Peter Lonard 66 69 68, Jason Gore 70 69 64
206 Adam Scott 67 67 72, Richard Green 66 74 66, Cameron Percy 70 66 70, Steven Conran 70 68 68, Scott Gardiner 70 69 67
207 Scott Laycock 69 67 71, Stephen Leaney 72 70 65, Nick O'Hern 70 72 65, Ryan Moore 73 68 66
208 Michael Long (Nzl) 68 74 66, Ryan Haller 70 70 68, Greg Chalmers 72 70 66
209 J.B. Holmes 66 73 70, Craig Scott 71 69 69, Michael Brennan 70 68 71, Brad Kennedy 70 69 70
210 Brett Rumford 73 69 68, David McKenzie 69 71 70, Ben Burge 69 73 68, Craig Parry 66 72 72, Michael Curtain 70 72 68, Peter O'Malley 72 69 69
211 Nathan Green 71 69 71, Wayne Perske 72 71 68, David Diaz 69 71 71, Wayne Grady 74 69 68
212 Mahal Pearce (Nzl) 69 72 71, Marcus Cain 72 68 72, Nick Flanagan 69 72 71, Terry Pilkadaris 70 74 68, Lucas Parsons 70 72 70, Marc Leishman 69 74 69, Matt Ballard 75 66 71, Takuya Taniguchi (Jpn) 73 70 69, Robin Hodgetts (Rsa) 74 69 69, Marcus Fraser 69 72 71
213 John Senden 69 72 72, Ewan Porter 68 76 69, Anthony Summers 70 74 69, Steven Bowditch 69 74 70, Vernon Sexton-Finck 68 75 70
214 Luke Hickmott 71 67 76, Scott Adland 72 71 71, Gavin Coles 68 73 73, James Nitties 72 71 71, Leigh Mckechnie 70 74 70
215 Aaron Townsend 68 73 74, David Lutterus (Rsa) 68 74 73, Matthew Millar 71 73 71, Josh Carmichael 73 71 71, Andrew Martin 71 72 72
216 Chris Campbell 72 71 73, Paul Marantz 73 71 72, Wade Ormsby 73 68 75, Andrew Dodt 72 72 72
217 Jarrod Moseley 71 71 75, Lucas Bates (Can) 71 72 74, Paul Sheehan 72 71 74, Brad Lamb 72 72 73
218 Paul Gow 72 71 75, Matthew Ecob 69 75 74, Andrew Tschudin 71 73 74
219 Ricky Schmidt 73 71 75
221 Aron Price 71 73 77, Michael McGrath 68 76 77
with another 65 in Aussie PGA title chase
FROM THE AUSTRALIAN PGA WEBSITE:
The race for the 2007 Cadbury Schweppes Australian PGA Championship is wide open with Rory Sabbatini leading by just a shot from five rivals after 54 holes at Coolum Resort, Queensland.
The South African world No. 11 added a five-under 67 to earlier rounds of 68 and 67 to move to 14-under and the narrowest of leads from Aberdonian Michael Sim, American Jason Gore, two-time champion Peter Lonard, young Aussies Adam Bland and Kiwi David Smail.
Gore posted the low round of the tournament on Day 3, missing the course record by just one as he carded an eight-under 64, while Lonard signed for a 68, Bland shot 65, Sim did likewise for the second time in three days and Smail also put up a 67.
Overnight leader Adam Scott had a day to forget but rallied to shoot 72 and shares seventh place with Victorians Richard Green (66) and Cameron Percy (70) and New South Wales duo Scott Gardiner (67) and Steven Conran (68) on 10-under.
Defending champion Nick O'Hern and his fellow Western Australian Stephen Leaney leapt to minus nine with matching 65s, and they are level with Victorian Scott Laycock (71) and American Ryan Moore (66).
With the greens softened by overnight rain and the temperature hovering in the mid-20s with only a light breeze, Gore had a brilliant front nine as he picked up an eagle and four birdies in five holes, and two further birdies coming home took him to the top.
"They say it can always be better but I'm pretty happy with the way it was," Gore said. "I got off to a good start, so that always makes it a little bit easier on the back nine for sure, especially how difficult and tricky this back nine is."
But each time Gore pulled clear he was reeled in, firstly by Lonard, who had another bogey-free round that included three birdies in four holes to the turn and a fourth at the 12th.
Sabbatini started superbly with birdies at the first two holes but with his playing partner Scott not having the best of days the South African bogeyed the fifth to fall behind.
Two more birdies in a row undid that damage but he then gave back another shot at the 10th, before three birdies in his final six holes saw him surge clear with a round remaining.
"It's always good to be in the final group going into Sunday's round," Sabbatini said. "I was a lot happier with the way I played today, I just felt like I was more in control of the golf ball and managed to stay focussed out there.
"Unfortunately I had a couple of poor executions on the front that led to some bogeys but other than that, I was very happy with the way I played."
First-round leader Michael Sim, who followed his opening 65 with a 73 on Friday despite starting with an early eagle, roared back into contention with another flawless performance of his own, including four birdies in six holes after the turn.
"I played well, I hit a few average shots on the front nine," Sim said. "I missed a six-foot putt on 17 and made a bomb on 15 and chipped in on 12 so I can't really say I left anything out there, no."
Smail was only two shots from the lead overnight and steadily maintained his lofty place on the leaderboard with five birdies during his round, while Bland picked up birdie quartets before and after the turn, the last of them a superb chip from the bunker at 18 that was reminiscent of O'Hern's winning shot at the fourth play-off hole in 2006.
Having already seen his lead disappear, Scott began with a bogey at the third but looked back on track with successive birdies at eight and nine before disaster struck when he took three shots to get up onto the 12th green.
From the edge of the green he two-putted for a triple-bogey 8 to slump to eight-under, but birdies at the 15th and 18th holes at least gave him hope of a maiden Australian win if he can get going on Sunday.
O'Hern actually began his day with a bogey at the first but responded brilliantly with eight birdies to haul himself back into contention, while Leaney's round was littered with nine birdies but a couple of bogeys prevented him matching the course record.
Greg Chalmers and Kiwi Michael Long both shot 66 to be eight-under with Ryan Haller (68), while JB Holmes (70), Michael Brennan (71), Craig Scott (69) and Brad Kennedy (71) are equal 19th on minus seven.
HOME NOTE: It was reported in The Press and Journal this week that Michael Sim had not been back to his birthplace of Aberdeen since his family emigrated in 1991 when he was seven.
Michael's father George, now a businessman in Australia, has knocked that statement on the head. "Michael was back in Aberdeen in 2004 when he returned to Scotland to play in the British amateur championship at St Andrews. When he was in Aberdeen, he played a round over Royal Aberdeen," says George.
So now you know.
THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
202 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 68 67 67
203 Michael Sim 65 73 65, Adam Bland 68 70 65, David Smail (Nzl) 67 69 67, Peter Lonard 66 69 68, Jason Gore 70 69 64
206 Adam Scott 67 67 72, Richard Green 66 74 66, Cameron Percy 70 66 70, Steven Conran 70 68 68, Scott Gardiner 70 69 67
207 Scott Laycock 69 67 71, Stephen Leaney 72 70 65, Nick O'Hern 70 72 65, Ryan Moore 73 68 66
208 Michael Long (Nzl) 68 74 66, Ryan Haller 70 70 68, Greg Chalmers 72 70 66
209 J.B. Holmes 66 73 70, Craig Scott 71 69 69, Michael Brennan 70 68 71, Brad Kennedy 70 69 70
210 Brett Rumford 73 69 68, David McKenzie 69 71 70, Ben Burge 69 73 68, Craig Parry 66 72 72, Michael Curtain 70 72 68, Peter O'Malley 72 69 69
211 Nathan Green 71 69 71, Wayne Perske 72 71 68, David Diaz 69 71 71, Wayne Grady 74 69 68
212 Mahal Pearce (Nzl) 69 72 71, Marcus Cain 72 68 72, Nick Flanagan 69 72 71, Terry Pilkadaris 70 74 68, Lucas Parsons 70 72 70, Marc Leishman 69 74 69, Matt Ballard 75 66 71, Takuya Taniguchi (Jpn) 73 70 69, Robin Hodgetts (Rsa) 74 69 69, Marcus Fraser 69 72 71
213 John Senden 69 72 72, Ewan Porter 68 76 69, Anthony Summers 70 74 69, Steven Bowditch 69 74 70, Vernon Sexton-Finck 68 75 70
214 Luke Hickmott 71 67 76, Scott Adland 72 71 71, Gavin Coles 68 73 73, James Nitties 72 71 71, Leigh Mckechnie 70 74 70
215 Aaron Townsend 68 73 74, David Lutterus (Rsa) 68 74 73, Matthew Millar 71 73 71, Josh Carmichael 73 71 71, Andrew Martin 71 72 72
216 Chris Campbell 72 71 73, Paul Marantz 73 71 72, Wade Ormsby 73 68 75, Andrew Dodt 72 72 72
217 Jarrod Moseley 71 71 75, Lucas Bates (Can) 71 72 74, Paul Sheehan 72 71 74, Brad Lamb 72 72 73
218 Paul Gow 72 71 75, Matthew Ecob 69 75 74, Andrew Tschudin 71 73 74
219 Ricky Schmidt 73 71 75
221 Aron Price 71 73 77, Michael McGrath 68 76 77
Labels: Pro Men
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Saturday, December 08, 2007
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