CANIZARES HAS WESTWOOD ON HIS TAIL FOR WENTWORTH FINAL ROUND
FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Spaniard Alejandro Cañizares birdied both of Wentworth Club’s famous
closing par fives to take a one-shot lead over Englishman Lee Westwood
into the final round of the BMW PGA Championship.
Cañizares’ father José Maria, the four-time Ryder Cup player, finished in the top ten four times at Wentworth, but Alejandro will now be hoping to become the first Spaniard since Miguel Angel Jiménez in 2008 to win The European Tour’s flagship event.
The 30 year old recovered from bogeys on the 13th and 15th holes to finish his round with back-to-back birdies on the 17th and 18th holes of the West Course, signing for a 68 to move to nine under par for the Championship.
He will have Westwood for company in the final group after the former World Number One eagled the fourth hole en route to a five under par 67, but Cañizares vowed to enjoy his final round showdown with one of Europe’s Ryder Cup stars.
“I'm sure I'm going to be nervous,” he said. “I'm sure I'm going to be more nervous than Lee Westwood.
“It's a pleasure to be there. I did not expect it but obviously it’s a great opportunity to be able to play with Lee Westwood, and I've done it a few times before so I know how it is. I'm just going to try to enjoy it and play my golf, be focused on every shot, be focused on my game, and see what happens.”
Westwood’s recent hard work on his short game appears to be paying off, and the 40 year old is eager to go one better than two years ago when he lost in a play-off to Luke Donald.
“It was one of the most fun days I've ever had on the golf course I think,” he said. “The crowds have always been good when I played in England but it felt like a lot of support today.”
Italian Matteo Manassero, who is 20 years younger than Westwood and ten years younger than Cañizares, shares third position on seven under par with Scotland’s Marc Warren after rounds of 69 and 70 respectively.
Ireland’s Shane Lowry is a shot further back on six under par following a 69, while Sergio Garcia (68) and Francesco Molinari (73) are in a group of eight players in a share of sixth position on five under par.
One of the best scores of the day was a 67 by Greig Hutcheon, the Banchory tour pro who qualified to play in this championship through winning the Scottish PGA Order of Merit - he was also the Tartan Tour leading money-winner last year.
Hutcheon just made the cut last night and he is set for a big cheque
if he can produce another sub-70 score on Sunday. He is on 213, six shots off the pace.
THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72)
Cañizares’ father José Maria, the four-time Ryder Cup player, finished in the top ten four times at Wentworth, but Alejandro will now be hoping to become the first Spaniard since Miguel Angel Jiménez in 2008 to win The European Tour’s flagship event.
The 30 year old recovered from bogeys on the 13th and 15th holes to finish his round with back-to-back birdies on the 17th and 18th holes of the West Course, signing for a 68 to move to nine under par for the Championship.
He will have Westwood for company in the final group after the former World Number One eagled the fourth hole en route to a five under par 67, but Cañizares vowed to enjoy his final round showdown with one of Europe’s Ryder Cup stars.
“I'm sure I'm going to be nervous,” he said. “I'm sure I'm going to be more nervous than Lee Westwood.
“It's a pleasure to be there. I did not expect it but obviously it’s a great opportunity to be able to play with Lee Westwood, and I've done it a few times before so I know how it is. I'm just going to try to enjoy it and play my golf, be focused on every shot, be focused on my game, and see what happens.”
Westwood’s recent hard work on his short game appears to be paying off, and the 40 year old is eager to go one better than two years ago when he lost in a play-off to Luke Donald.
“It was one of the most fun days I've ever had on the golf course I think,” he said. “The crowds have always been good when I played in England but it felt like a lot of support today.”
Italian Matteo Manassero, who is 20 years younger than Westwood and ten years younger than Cañizares, shares third position on seven under par with Scotland’s Marc Warren after rounds of 69 and 70 respectively.
Ireland’s Shane Lowry is a shot further back on six under par following a 69, while Sergio Garcia (68) and Francesco Molinari (73) are in a group of eight players in a share of sixth position on five under par.
One of the best scores of the day was a 67 by Greig Hutcheon, the Banchory tour pro who qualified to play in this championship through winning the Scottish PGA Order of Merit - he was also the Tartan Tour leading money-winner last year.
Hutcheon just made the cut last night and he is set for a big cheque
if he can produce another sub-70 score on Sunday. He is on 213, six shots off the pace.
Par 216 (3x72)
207 A Cañizares (Esp) 69 70 68
208 L Westwood (Eng) 70 71 67
209 M Warren (Sco) 69 70 70, M Manassero (Ita) 69 71 69
210 S Lowry (Irl) 70 71 69
211
F Molinari (Ita) 70 68 73, P Larrazábal (Esp) 71 73 67, S Garcia (Esp)
72 71 68, E Pepperell (Eng) 71 69 71, L Slattery (Eng) 71 71 69, R
Bland (Eng) 71 71 69, E Molinari (Ita) 71 71 69, M Foster (Eng) 70 69
72
212
A Quiros (Esp) 70 73 69, J Kingston (RSA) 66 77 69, R Ramsay (Sco) 71
75 66, M Jiménez (Esp) 76 69 67, S Khan (Eng) 69 72 71, G Havret (Fra)
70 71 71, P Price (Wal) 73 69 70,
213
T Fleetwood (Eng) 71 74 68, P Uihlein (USA) 72 73 68, G Storm (Eng)
73 71 69, N Fasth (Swe) 70 71 72, E Els (RSA) 72 69 72, D Drysdale (Sco)
71 73 69, M Ilonen (Fin) 67 76 70, R Fisher (Eng) 72 73 68, G Hutcheon
(Sco) 72 74 67
214 G Coetzee (RSA) 69 70 75, G Bourdy (Fra) 71 73 70, B Wiesberger (Aut) 73 71 70
215 B Grace (RSA) 71 73 71, R
Jacquelin (Fra) 71 71 73, W Liang (Chn) 75 68 72, J Rose (Eng) 72 74 69,
N Colsaerts (Bel) 72 70 73, J Levermore (Eng) 72 70 73
216 R Sterne (RSA) 71 74 71, D Clarke
(Nir) 74 70 72, A Noren (Swe) 74 71 71, S Kjeldsen (Den) 74 72 70, F
Zanotti (Par) 71 75 70, T Levet (Fra) 71 75 70, P McGinley (Irl) 71 75
70
217 T Jaidee (Tha) 74 71 72, M Siem
(Ger) 75 71 71, M Kaymer (Ger) 70 74 73, G Fernandez-Castaño (Esp) 68 75 74,
J Kruger (RSA) 71 74 72, G Mulroy (RSA) 74 71 72, D McGrane (Irl) 72 73
72, J Van Zyl (RSA) 75 69 73, A Hansen (Den) 70 74 73,
C Doak (Sco) 74 71 72
218 G Lockerbie (Eng) 71 74 73, O
Fisher (Eng) 70 75 73, P Lawrie (Irl) 74 72 72, C Montgomerie (Sco) 71
75 72, B Rumford (Aus) 75 71 72, D Willett (Eng) 73 72 73, A Tadini
(Ita) 73 71 74, T Björn (Den) 69 74 75
219 J Donaldson (Wal) 71 75 73, A Dodt (Aus) 75 71 73, J Sandelin (Swe) 76 69 74
220 S Drummond (Sco) 70 75 75
221 R Santos (Por) 73 72 76, R Coles (Eng) 75 71 75
224 J M Olazábal (Esp) 75 71 78, J Quesne (Fra) 71 75 78
Labels: EUROPEAN TOUR
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Saturday, May 25, 2013
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