Gardiner makes late move to take QLD PGA lead

BY Bruce Young | Von Nida Tour | 2005 Queensland PGA | Round Three | 12 Nov 2005

As the leading pair of Brad McIntosh and Scott Gardiner arrived on the first tee for today’s third round of the Greater Building Society Queensland PGA Championship at the Emerald Lakes Golf Club on the Gold Coast, it was clear that this would be a much more demanding day than either had faced over the first two rounds.

They had been blessed by the best of the draw over the first thirty six holes although admittedly they had both made the most of their good fortune in that regard. McIntosh had generated as much publicity as has ever been created for a Von Nida Tour event following his brilliant and historic 59 on day two to establish a two shot lead, but today was shaping as a much different day. Ahead of them lay a golf course that was not only exposed to a 10kph wind but one that had been set up with some demanding but fair pin positions.

When the leader McIntosh pulled his tee shot right into the thick bushes at the first it became obvious that yesterday’s heroics were now behind him and that today was very much another day.

He took a penalty drop there but was still able to salvage par at the short par four. He hit a good drive and approach to the second but missed from five metres and at the par three third he flew it over the flag and finished seven metres behind the hole. He two putted for par and while this was going on, Scott Gardiner, his nearest pursuer after thirty six holes, was having trouble of his own. He dropped a shot at the second after missing the green right and then at the third he pulled his tee shot into the bunker left and took another bogey. The difference was now four but there were others about to make a move from further back in the field.

At the par five fourth hole which was playing downwind, McIntosh hit his tee shot just into the left rough, but so long is he from the tee and so short was the hole playing with the following wind, that he had just a sand iron to the green. When his putt from seven metres found the bottom of the cup, McIntosh had opened up a five shot lead over Gardiner who also birdied the same hole.

McIntosh would bogey the 5th and 6th after pulled approaches – the one at the 6th finding the hazard at the par five – and he was back to where he started at eighteen under.

By the time the last group reached the turn, McIntosh was three ahead of the third player in the final group of the day, David Brockie, who would just not go away. Brockie’s eagle at the par five 6th saw him emerging as a challenger to McIntosh especially with Gardiner’s struggle continuing.

Others making a run were Ricky Schmidt, now from New South Wales but originally from Hervey Bay in Queensland, who interestingly had the services of Peter Senior as his caddy. Many were surprised to see one of the pre tournament favourites actually caddying on day three but of course Senior had missed the cut and had told his good friend and house guest for the week that he would caddy for him today. “He didn’t believe me when I told him I was going to,” said Senior, “but I was keen to do it for him although tomorrow I have to attend my daughter’s gymnastics in Brisbane so he is on his own then.” Schmidt eventually finished with 68 and at 15 under he still has a chance tomorrow but he will have to go it alone.

The player who was making the biggest move of the day was Jason Day who was doing so on his 18th birthday. His brilliant round of 62 was produced on a golf course where others were struggling. The precocious talent has only just recovered from a virus he has been carrying since the Queensland Masters two weeks ago but said he had been playing well after spending some time with his coach, Colin Swatton.

“I hit it good the last three days but today the putts went in. I have tightened up my swing with the help of Col. I hadn’t seen Col for a while and when I did recently and in the last two weeks he has seen some things that I needed to tighten up and it now feels good.”

The highlight of his day for the Queenslander was his three iron approach to the par five 6th which came to rest a metre from the hole and which he made for an eagle.

When asked what he might do to celebrate his 18th birthday he said that he would be doing very little.

“I knew if I could produce a good round today then I could get close to the leaders and it is pleasing that it has worked out that way,” he said when responding to a statement that the leaders were not getting away. He did so with his mother Denni and coach Colin Swatton looking on.

Back on the golf course things were beginning to change. Scott Gardiner, who had struggled for much of the first ten holes was on his way back. A birdie at the 11th got things going and even though he was unable to birdie the par five 12th, he started a run of four consecutive birdies from the 14th where he bounced his second over the bunker and two putted for birdie. Perhaps the most impressive was that he made at the 16th when he hit a beautiful six iron from a downhill lie in the right hand fairway bunker to six metres and when he hole that he had drawn level.

At the 17th the long par three and the most difficult on the course, Gardiner hit a superb tee shot to three metres and when that was holed, he had moved ahead in the tournament for the first time and McIntosh’s long held lead had disappeared, at least for the moment.

Gardiner said later the run started at the 11th.

“That birdie I guess you could say proved that I still had it in me,” he said jokingly. “I struggled with the right to left wind for some reason and seemed to pull a lot of shots. I noticed that a lot of the holes from tomorrow (the tour staff leave dots to mark the next day’s placements) are set in the back right hand corner of the greens so I will have to work on that this afternoon in practice.”

Gardiner was reluctant to commit, even yet, to heading to Tour School in the US. He is booked to fly out on Monday but he is yet unsure if it is exactly what he wants to do. Perhaps a win tomorrow might just help persuade him.

McIntosh said that a few things went against him today and whenever he started a run he went the other way. “Whenever I made a birdie I would follow it up with a bogey. It was just one of those days and I am not all that concerned as I felt a few things went against me and I hit a lot of good putts that just shaved the hole.”

Golf’s a bit like that. One day 59, the next day even par. Tomorrow it might all turn around again.