Charl Schwartzel leads the SA Open

January 10, 2015: Charl Schwartzel surged to the top of the leaderboard in pursuit of a first South African Open Championship hosted by the City of Ekurhuleni title on Saturday.

The former Masters Tournament winner, from neighbouring Johannesburg, began the day one shot behind England’s Andy Sullivan, but the pair experienced an amazing eight-shot swing in the first four holes at Glendower Golf Club.

World Number 31 Schwartzel, who has won six of his nine European Tour titles in South Africa, holed from 50 feet across the first green for birdie, from six feet on the second and 20 feet on the third before his approach to the fourth almost pitched straight into the hole and finished inches away.

That took the 30 year old to 11 under par and contrasted starkly with playing partner Sullivan’s opening stretch, with the 27 year old failing to get up and down from a greenside bunker on the first before finding water with his second shot to the next.

Another bogey followed after missing the third green and, even when he found the middle of the fairway on the fourth, Sullivan’s luck was firmly out as his ball finished in an old divot and led to a fourth straight bogey.

The former Walker Cup player stopped the rot with a birdie on the fifth, but at five under par was still six behind Schwartzel, while England’s Lee Slattery had set the clubhouse target on seven under after a flawless 65.

A rollercoaster week for tournament host Ernie Els continued with a third round of 69 to leave the five-time winner three under par.

Els was just one off the lead after an opening 67, only to slump to a second round of 77 which featured back-to-back triple bogeys and prompted a change of putter.

That seemed to have done the trick as Els raced to the turn in 31, but the 45 year old then missed from a matter of inches on the 11th as he carded three bogeys in the space of four holes in an inward nine of 38.

Schwartzel’s first bogey of the day came after a poor chip on the seventh, but that proved to be just a temporary aberration.

A far better chip from right of the green on the par five eighth yielded a birdie, before another superb approach to the ninth led to a sixth of the round and a front nine of 31.

At 12 under par, Schwartzel enjoyed a five shot lead over Slattery, France’s Gary Stal and South African Richard Sterne, with former amateur star Matt Fitzpatrick another shot back after birdies on the tenth and 12th were followed by an eagle on the 13th.

Fitzpatrick, who earned his European Tour card via Qualifying School, made it a four-way tie for second place thanks to a birdie on the 15th before play was suspended due to the threat of lightning.

The delay lasted less than an hour and Schwartzel wasted no time padding his lead when play resumed, chipping in from just over the 12th green for birdie.

A three-putt bogey on the next saw that lead reduced to four shots thanks to another birdie from Fitzpatrick on the 17th, but Schwartzel responded immediately with a superb tee shot on the 14th to set up a birdie from five feet.

Edited by Anand Datla