Michael Vlismas

MALELANE, South Africa (8 December 2007) – After signing for a 64 to lead the Alfred Dunhill Championship by two strokes, Ernie Els sat down with a smile and declared, “This is the round I’ve been looking for”.

The world number five dominated a wet third round with his bogey-free score of eight under, lifting him to 13 under par overall and two strokes clear of the field going into Sunday’s final round.

England’s Lee Slattery is his nearest challenger on 11 under following a 67, with Ross McGowan and John Bickerton at nine under par.

But based on his performance in the third round, few would bet against Els claiming his second victory of the year at Leopard Creek on Sunday.

“I just had to play the way I wanted to and that start settled me down,” he said of his two birdies to start the round. Els turned tied for the lead with Slattery, and then surged ahead with four birdies in six holes thereafter.

Slattery continued to make a contest of it and closed to within two of Els with his birdie at the 15^th. Els reinstated his three-stroke lead with a birdie at the last, and Slattery again closed the gap with a birdie at 18 as well.

As the top ranked player in the field, Els is the clear favourite to lift the title on Sunday. But the big South African also expressed concern at the fact that more of the country’s leading players weren’t in the field this week.

“You know, we asked our tour commissioner to bring the tour forward to December so we could play in these events. It’s unfortunate that more of our top guys aren’t here, especially considering what Johann Rupert (the tournament host) has done for South African golf,” said Els.

Overnight leader Omar Sandys’ game suffered in the third round. Sandys double bogeyed the first and ninth holes to immediately slip out of contention, and finished the day with a 74 and on six under par.

The third round also featured the rare achievement of two holes-in-one.

Dutch professional Joost Luiten hit the shot of a lifetime when he scored a hole-in-one and won an Audi TT Roadster.

Luiten aced the par-three 12^th hole, hitting a seven-iron on the 176-metre hole to win a car valued at over R500 000 (roughly €56 000).

And Audi have agreed to have the car delivered to Luiten’s home in The Netherlands, sparing him the cost of transporting the car to Rotterdam.

“It’s my first hole-in-one in a tournament so I’m delighted,” said Luiten, who played on the European Challenge Tour and qualified for the main European Tour in 2008.

Luiten made the halfway cut in this tournament right on the mark of two over par, and then produced a superb third round of 64 to surge into contention on six under par.

“I felt really good and felt like I could go for every pin, which is what I did,” he said.

Luiten wasn’t even aware there was a hole-in-one prize on the 12^th hole.

“I watched the ball go in and then my caddie and I turned around and saw a sign on the tee box advertising the car. I’m going to drive my girlfriend around in it. I’ve already got a car in The Netherlands, but I think I’ll change it now. And when I’m away my girlfriend can drive it,” he said.