Leaders take a tumble in PGA Championship

Saturday turned out to be moving and grooving day at Wentworth during the third round of the BMW PGA Championship (25-28 May).  Testing conditions today, caused by strong winds, saw the halfway leaders of Thomas Pieters (Belgium), Francesco Molinari (Italy) and Scotland’s Scott Jamieson take a tumble.  While England’s Lee Westwood dug deep and found some blistering form on the last three holes: birdie, birdie, birdie to get himself into contention.  At 5-under par, he is just three shots off the pace set by Australia’s Andrew Dodt.  Shortly after Pieters had struggled down the last in the final pairing, the legendary rock band, Status Quo began warming-up for their golf gig in the Championship Village.

 

The long-hitting Belgian had got off to a shaky start today but then seemed to find the powerful and effective ball-striking form again that had so impressed the fans at Wentworth during his opening rounds of 68 and 69.  Despite back-to-back birdies at the 7th and 8th, tragically the last 10 holes saw him cascade down the leaderboard out of the top-20.  Pieters finished his round with three bogeys (9, 15, 17) and a second disastrous double-bogey at the last for a 78.

 

The damage was even more drastic for Sweden’s Johan Carlsson.  He had led the field on day one after opening with a classy 6-under par 66 in perfect conditions.  On Friday, he added a 73 only to then drop completely out of the running today due to double-bogey studded round of 9-over par. Carlsson, who is another player that towers over much of the field with his height of 6 feet 5 inches, has slipped to 4-over for the championship.

 

A mere four players broke 70 today:  Japan’s Hideto Tanihara (67); Dodt (68); Welshman Bradley Dredge (69) and Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts (69).

 

So it’s Andrew Dodt and Branden Grace who have the honour of teeing-off last tomorrow.  Among the star-studded field breathing down their necks is Open Champion Henrik Stenson.  He’s now four shots behind Dodt.  But a solid round on Sunday could easily see him as leader in the clubhouse putting pressure on the last few pairings as they come down the final stretch.

 

Wendy Hoad

 

 

PICTURED:  Thomas Pieters about to launch his drive down the 17th on day three.