By Martin Petty
CHON BURI, Thailand Dec 17 (Reuters) – World number
three Lee Westwood suffered a slump in form as his huge lead of
the Thailand Golf Championship was slashed to four stokes by
surging South African Charl Schwartzel on Saturday.
An erratic day for Westwood saw him card a third round of
73, 13 shots worse than his stunning opening round 60 which
helped him to an 11-stroke lead at the halfway point.
U.S. Masters champion Schwartzel made four birdies in his
first five holes on his way to a second successive 66 at the
Amata Spring County Club, paving the way for a crunch final day
at the $1 million Asian Tour event.
Westwood had not carded a bogey in his opening two rounds
but four arrived on Saturday as his dazzling form from earlier
in the tournament disappeared.
The Englishman, whose 64 in round two gave him a share of
the Asian Tour’s lowest-ever 36-hole total, said he still had
the upper hand and the pressure was on his rivals to overhaul
his lead and deny him his third Asian victory this year.
“A lot of people are going to think you’re going to shoot a
60, 62 and 64 every day but I’m afraid golf isn’t like that,”
Westwood told reporters.
“I hit a few good shots in between but I didn’t make puts
when I needed to. It was one of those days, a few bad breaks but
if you’d have offered me a four-shot lead on Thursday morning,
I’d have taken it.
“I can stretch my lead and people have to put their foot
down and that’s where you can make mistakes.”
Continued…
