Faldo fires 65 to take third-round lead
England’s Nick Faldo shot a sensational seven-under par 65 in the third round of the Heineken Classic to surge into contention for his first title in nearly six years.
The six-time Major champion, whose last victory came at the Nissan Open in 1997, enjoyed a bumper round at Royal Melbourne to take the lead going into the final round on 11 under par.
Faldo began the day eight shots off the pace having dropped three in his last four holes yesterday, but he had hit the practice ground straight after that disappointing 71.
And it paid dividends as the 45-year-old leapfrogged halfway leader Paul Casey, who lost the consistency of his first two rounds and dropped back to 10 under par, where he sits tied for second with Sweden’s Niclas Fasth and Australian Peter Lonard.
English players still dominate the upper reaches of the leaderboard, with David Lynn and Steve Webster on nine under, while Brian Davis and Ian Poulter sit in the pack on seven under, one shot behind a rejuvenated Ernie Els.
The pre-tournament favourite had struggled with his rhythm over the opening rounds, but it clicked today and he shot a 66 to finish tied on eight under with New Zealand’s David Smail.
The last British winner at Royal Melbourne was Sam Torrance in 1980, but Faldo got his bid on track on the par-four first, where his approach rolled to within four feet and he sunk the short putt for an opening birdie.
He followed that up with birdies on the second and third before completing the outward nine with a 40-foot putt to land an eagle that fired his belief that he could hold the inward stretch together.
Faldo said: “The last couple of days I tripped up on the back nine so I was really concentrating hard, hitting the shots where I wanted to and playing smart.
“For me, at my age, that was 11 out of 10. All my intentions were there. My commitment was really good. It was the best I’ve committed to what I was trying to do for a long time.
“I saw Ernie (Els) making a really good run. I thought, what the hell is he shooting? Then I eagled nine and started thinking I had a great round going.
“I came out with good intentions. I worked on things last night and that was key. I made some rules, obeyed them and tried to be really aggressive.
“I played low wind shots and it came off. I did a little bit of putting and hit a few balls because I screwed up yesterday afternoon.
“If I pursued the next 18 holes with the same good thought and good decision-making that would do me for the rest of my career. I couldn’t do any better than I did today.”
His round was completed with a steady back nine, successfully negotiating the 14th and 15th which he had found tricky and picking up birdies on 10 and 16.
Casey finished the day with a two-over-par 74 , but was relieved to have escaped from a shaky round only one shot behind.
“I’m very pleased it’s Saturday not Sunday,” he said. “It was a frustrating round. I felt the pressure at the beginning, then got it back. But I had a double-bogey at 13 because I chose the wrong club and got burnt.
“I felt the bounces went the wrong way. I made a couple of mistakes but I was unlucky. To have day like this and only be one off lead, I’m quite pleased.
“I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
As Els will be after an impressive third round of 66 as the South African finally found his rhythm to make a charge up the leaderboard.
The world number two came into the tournament on the back of two wins and a second place, but had to battle to reach halfway on just two under, 10 off the lead.
Els felt he might have overstretched himself in playing four consecutive events but all those fears seemed unjustified as the South African was on course for a faultless round including seven birdies.
His only blip was a dropped a shot at the last which left him with an eight-under aggregate of 208.
“I went out this morning, played my shots and made some good putts,” he said. “The greens are perfect, it forces you to hit solid shots into greens.
“I’m disappointed (with the bogey on 18). I was trying to get it in really close and finish with a birdie. It cost me a shot and it’s not nice to finish with a bogey.”
Brian Davis made an early dash up the leaderboard, but dropped a shot at the last to dampen an otherwise faultless round of attacking golf.
He shot a 65 to finish on seven under for the tournament, tied with Australian Richard Green and Stephen Scahill of New Zealand who both carded 69s.
Poulter finished with a 71 after suffering a double-bogey on 15 then a bogey on 16 which wiped out his second-hole eagle.
Also in chasing pack with three-round aggregates of 209 are Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn and Soren Kjeldsen and Australia’s Peter Fowler, while Greg Norman shot a second consecutive 69 to sit in a nine-man group on five under.
Heineken Classic: Latest leaderboard
1 FALDO, Nick ENG 18 -11 69 71 65
T2 LONARD, Peter AUS 18 -10 67 72 67
T2 FASTH, Niclas SWE 18 -10 68 70 68
T2 CASEY , Paul ENG 18 -10 65 67 74
T5 WEBSTER, Steve ENG 18 -9 68 69 70
T5 LYNN, David ENG 18 -9 69 65 73
T7 ELS, Ernie RSA 18 -8 70 72 66
T7 SMAIL, David NZL 18 -8 71 68 69
T9 DAVIS, Brian ENG 18 -7 70 74 65
T9 GREEN, Richard AUS 18 -7 69 71 69
T9 SCAHILL, Stephen NZL 18 -7 71 69 69
T9 FOWLER, Peter AUS 18 -7 67 72 70
T9 BJÖRN, Thomas DEN 18 -7 70 68 71
T9 POULTER, Ian ENG 18 -7 74 64 71
T9 KJELDSEN, Søren DEN 18 -7 71 67 71
T9 ALLAN, Stephen AUS 18 -7 68 68 73
