Ford goes backwards

Adrian Ford tees off from 17th tee during the 3rd round of the SA Open ChampionshipAdrian Ford dropped down the leader board after a three over par 75 in today’s third round of the South African Open Championship being played at Pearl Valley Golf Estates just outside Paarl in the Western Cape.

This gave the only amateur left in the field a 54 hole total of 216, level par, fourteen shots off the pace.

Leading the field is Englishman Lee Westwood with a 54 hole total of 202, fourteen under par. He recorded a 68 today, four under par. He is two shots clear of the rest of the field.

Sixty seven players, in a field of 76, finished with a 54 hole total under par.

It was not the chirpy amateur of the first two rounds who walked out the score recording area. “I struggled with my yardages today for some reason, my putts did sink, it was just not a happy day on the golf course,” the 21 year old Ernie Els and Fancourt Foundation member lamented.

He played regulation golf up to hole 5 which he birdied. He bogeyed the 9th hole to turn level par for his round. He played the back nine in three over par, recording bogeys on holes 11, 15 and 18.

Ford’s playing partner was Austrian Bernd Wiesberger who, enjoying the benign weather conditions that prevailed the whole day, scorched round the beautifully prepared Pearl Valley Golf Estates in 65, seven under par, the best round of the day. He was five under par after the first five holes thanks to three birdies and an eagle. He recorded three more birdies and a bogey for his round. Wiesberger finished with a 54 hole total 206, ten under par, three shots off the pace.

Adrian Ford, on the left, and his caddie Guy Kleinhaus look down the 18th fairway at the end of their 3rd round of the SA OpenTalk of the town has been Ford’s caddie. Guy Kleinhaus is his name, a good friend of the leading amateur and also a member of Durbanville Golf Club. He is more than 15 cms taller than the leading amateur. It is not only his height that attracts attention but it was his shoes and hairstyle too. “His aunt has a salon,” Ford pointed out with a smile.

Ford just needs to complete tomorrow’s final round and he will win the prestigious Freddie Tait Trophy, as the leading amateur in this year’s South African Open Championship.

The final round, of the 72 hole stroke play championship, will be played tomorrow.

3rd Round Scores
Pearl Valley Golf Estates (Par 72)
Leaders
202 – Lee Westwood (ENG) (66,68,68)
204 – Gareth Maybin (NIR) (66,69,69), Michael Lorenzo-Vera (FRA) (67,65,72)
205 – Rory McIlroy (NIR) (70,68,67), George Coetzee (RSA) (69,68,68), Retief Goosen (RSA) (70,66,69)
Leading Amateur:
216 – Adrian Ford (70,71,75)

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