Stadler heads Johnnie Walker field in Perth
IN: News | Australasian PGA | Johnnie Walker Classic (2006) | Round Three | by Bruce Young | 11 Feb 2006
It was an early start on day three of the Johnnie Walker Classic as the event catered for an East Coast of Australia television audience. The last group of K.J. Choi, Kevin Stadler and Tony Carolan were off at 9.00am local time and with both the 1st and the 10th tees being used the day's play was expected to be completed by 2.00 pm.
The early start would have another benefit as most of the rounds would be completed in similar conditions with early or late conditions neither favouring nor hampering any player. There was less than two hours between the first and last groups out on both tees.
As the final group left the first tee there were already some low rounds under way. Local golfer Kim Felton started from the tenth and turned in 32 to be at nine under almost before the leaders teed off. Steve Webster also started from the tenth and like Felton he turned in 32 to move to nine under. The Englishman has already showed in this part of the world that he can go low, his final round of 62 at the Holden New Zealand Open at Gulf Harbour an indication of what he is capable of. His momentum was slowed by a bogey at his 10th whole the first of the course and such was the congestion at the top of the leader board he had slipped from 4th to 12th in the blink of an eye.
Two of the leaders made quick starts. Choi and Stadler both birdied the short par four first and they had moved further away from their playing partner, Tony Carolan, who suffered a blow to his confidence early with a missed short putt for par. That would effectively be the last we would see of Carolan for the rest of the day as he slipped to finish 33rd.
K.J Choi was about to make another statement when, at the third hole, the par five, after driving it into the edge of the right hand rough, he hit a magnificent approach to fifteen feet. When he holed that putt he had moved three ahead of Stadler who had birdied the same hole. Despite the break that Choi had established however, the challenges from behind continued to emerge.
England's Ian Poulter also made a fast start and when he holed a longish putt at the par three fourth he had moved to eleven under and was perhaps emerging as a threat. Poulter has had an indifferent start to 2006 but as a six time winner on the European Tour he clearly possessed the credentials to go on with it here.
Nick Flanagan, the Newcastle professional and 2003 US Amateur Champion, was another to make a statement from well back in the field. He eagled his 9th hole after starting at the tenth top complete the front nine in 31 and when he added a birdie at the 10th he had moved to ten under.
Richard Green who seems to have rediscovered his game in the last two weeks moved to eleven under and within four when he birdied the fifth to move to eleven under. Green was third in Dubai last week and as the weekend unfolds it will be interesting to see if he can make amends for a costly 72nd hole bogey there.
Fred Couples, who had finished second here in1997 to Miguel Angel Martin, birdied the 8th to move to four under for the day and ten under for the tournament. That moved him into a share of 5th, albeit five behind Choi, but when he birdied the 9th and 10th he was at 12 under and in hot pursuit of both Choi and Stadler.
An even bigger move came from Steve Allan the Victorian who lost his PGA Tour status in 2005 and has Nationwide Tour status in 2006. He reeled through the front nine in 29 and had moved to ten under after starting just inside the cut line.
The leaderboard was becoming difficult to keep up with as Nick O'Hern, Gavin Flint and Fransesco Molinari joined the fray. O'Hern, who was always a likely contender here, given the type of game he has and the nature of this golf course, birdied five of seven holes through the middle of his round to move to eleven under. Gavin Flint who recorded a second round 64 yesterday continued that form when he turned in 33 and was at eleven under.
Just when the leader Choi looked to be in total control and to a large extent in cruise mode, he double bogeyed the 8th hole after plugging his second into the trap and then after finding the hazard at the 10th he was unable to save par and slipped back to 14 under. In the meantime Stadler, after a front nine of 32 birdied the 10th to move two ahead before a bogey at the 12th had him back at fifteen under but still one ahead of Choi.
The Queenslander, Gavin Flint, who been a professional for fifteen months, was starting to loom as a definite threat to the leaders. Now with an Asian Tour card to his name, the once brilliant amateur golfer birdied three of his first five holes on his back nine to move to fourteen under for the tournament. At that point he had played his last 32 holes in 14 under par. His brilliant 64 on Friday had him back in the tournament after a slow start on Thursday and he was creating a chance for himself to not only have an Asian Tour card in 2006 but the possibility of a European Tour card also. No sooner had he reached fourteen under than he found the bushes from the tee at the 15th. He was perhaps lucky to be able to get at it but he managed to get it back on the fairway and in the end a bogey was a good result. He was then at 13 under.
As that was happening Nick O'Hern was playing the last and after a brilliant second to the par five to 8 feet, he holed that and the eagle saw him move to 14 under himself. After starting the day seven behind Choi, the local was now just one behind Stadler. "I hit a three wood at the last," O'Hern said later. "I was further back than I thought I might be as the little breeze there was, was fickle and it even felt like it might have been into us. I knew I needed to catch all of it to get it there."
Get it there he did and it came as a relief as it followed three consecutive missed makeable chances for birdie which had begun to create a little frustration. "I worked hard on being more of a feel player today as perhaps I have been getting a little too mechanical with things and today it worked. The course was perfect for scoring in that the greens were soft and because we were playing so early today there was little wind."
"This is a golf course that I enjoy because you don't need to be a bomber and even I can reach of the par fives. Anytime we play a strategic type of golf course then I am happy."
Gavin Flint rebounded from his bogey at the 15th with yet another birdie at the 16th to make it eight for the day and still with the par five 18th to come.
At that point there were four players including Flint, Choi, O'Hern and Richard Green at 14 under just one behind Stadler with just one shot back to Fred Couples, Craig Parry and the Italian Fransesco Molinari.
The last 45 minutes of day three would likely play a key role in determining the outcome of the tournament. There were many players who could yet make a significant change to the completed third round leaderboard and with the par five last part of that equation, there was plenty still to look forward to.
Flint found the green at the last with his second but the 18th green at the Vines is very wide and full of sweeping undulations. Flint had an eagle putt from perhaps 80 feet, but more realistically a two putt birdie would have been welcomed. He three putted and was still one behind Stadler. "I just got on a roll yesterday and it continued today," he said later. He is still relatively inexperienced is Flint, certainly at this level, but he is thankful that he now has a card to play in Asia. "It is just great knowing that I have a place to play this year. The Von Nida Tour was good last year but now Asia will give me greater continuity." Despite having his Asian Tour card, Flint currently has access to only a limited number of events. Tomorrow might just change all that.
Richard Green birdied the last to join Stadler in the lead but the American had one more ace up his sleeve. A six-iron to the last found the green some twelve feet from the hole and when that went in for eagle he had moved clear by two over Green and Choi who would also birdie the last.
Green said later the difference in his game over the last two weeks has been a change in the ball he has been using. "I have just not been getting the feedback from my ball that I felt I should be and made the change to the softer Nike One Platinum. I feel I have much greater control with that. When asked to nominate his shot of the day he was quick to point out the five iron to the par three 16th. I was very hot, my hands were sweaty and I had struggled a little one the previous couple of holes." It did not lead to a birdie but it was clearly one that he enjoyed and gave him the boost he was needing at that time to finish as well as he did.
Stadler reiterated his liking for the Vines layout. "When I played here for the first time on Tuesday I just felt comfortable on the course and immediately like the greens." Much has been made of the fact that he is the son of Craig but interestingly he has not heard from his Dad this week. "There may be a couple of emails from them but I have not looked so far." Stadler looks to win his second tournament in two months following his win in Argentina over Angel Cabrera in December. "That golf course was playing much more difficult than this one and if you think there is some movement on those greens you should see the ones we played on there. These greens are like this compared to them," he said pointing to the table he was sitting behind.
For Stadler and Flint, tomorrow promises the possibility of a huge leap in status from their current standing in the game. For either of them to win it would give them immediate graduation to the European Tour should they so choose. In Flint's case it would be a no brainer although for Stadler he might prefer to stay on his chosen road via the Nationwide Tour.
For O'Hern a win would put to bed the nightmare of Sunday at the MasterCard Masters where he let a three shot lead disappear. It would also herald a graduation of sorts for him also as it would mean he will finally avoid the constant questions about winning or not. Unlike Huntingdale he is not the overnight leader and it might just make the difference as he searches for such an important breakthrough.
For Choi it would further cement his status as the world class player that he is.
There are others who are also not without their chance including Craig Parry and Fred Couples and maybe even Casey at 12 under has a chance.
What appeared a one horse race at the start of day three had all of a sudden developed into a race with numerous chances. Twenty three players were within five shots of the lead. The organizers are no doubt disappointed by the fact that so many of their stars missed the cut but they have one hell of a final day on their hands in any case.
Stadler leads by two from Green and Choi with Flint, Molinari and O'Hern one shot further back.
