Ken Borland

Bernhard Langer’s dominance under sunny skies was not quite as pronounced when it clouded over at the Gary Player Country Club on Saturday, but the German still claimed victory in the Nedbank Champions Challenge in  relatively easy fashion.

Langer led the seniors’ competition by four strokes overnight and, even though Jay Haas shot an even-par 72 to narrow the gap, the two-time Masters champion could afford to shoot a two-over-par 74 and still win by two shots.

Langer, who won the Nedbank Golf Challenge in 1985 and 1991, said the victory made up for last year’s runners-up finish to Mark Calcavecchia when he surrendered the lead in the final round.

“It’s very satisfying because of what happened last year. It still came down to the end because the wind was very tricky and I missed more greens, which makes bogeys inevitable. But Jay was also very solid today, he drove the ball terrifically and he was good with his wedges too. To be fair, he was a bit unlucky with a few putts,” the gracious Langer said.

The tournament became a two-horse race with Ian Woosnam only managing a 72 on Saturday to finish five strokes adrift, while defending champion Calcavecchia fared even worse, slumping to a 13-over-par 85.

Haas put some pressure on Langer with a flawless inward nine and Langer was in some difficulty on the 14^th hole, when he had just a two-stroke lead and he faced a tricky up-and-down for par.

“It was fantastic to get that up-and-down on 14 and then on 15 I was hitting out of the semi-rough, a very tricky second shot. It landed perfectly but then it took off downwind and finished right at the back of the green. I had a 40-45 foot putt with about three feet of break, but I hit it absolutely brilliantly, with the perfect speed, for a crucial birdie,” Langer said.

The birdie gave Langer a three-shot lead with just three holes to play and he could afford a bogey at the par-four 17^th after his approach shot slid off left into the water short of the green. But, after the drop, he hit a wonderful chip shot to within a few feet of the hole.

The 55-year-old then pushed his tee shot on the final hole into the semi-rough and decided to lay up rather than risk letting Haas back into the contest.

“I had a horrible lie, so I could just chip the ball out and I then made a great up-and-down with a seven-iron and a putt from about 10 feet,” Langer said.

Haas had begun the final round shakily with two bogeys in his first three holes, before a birdie at the par-five ninth kept him in touch, egging him on to a brave challenge on the back nine. But the putts just refused to drop for the American.

– http://www.sapa.org.za/secure/view.cfm?id=3611567&year=2012&srce=search&

The Nedbank Golf Challenge enters its third round at the Gary Player Country Club on Saturday and, thus far, the scoring has not set the world alight.

In fact, it is Bernhard Langer, the 55-year-old leader of the Champions Challenge who has been the most impressive golfer thus far. The German’s nine-under-par tally after two rounds has given him a four-shot lead over Jay Haas in the concurrent tournament for senior golfers, but Langer is five shots better off than the NGC leader, Scotsman Paul Lawrie.

The secret to Langer’s success has been clear-thinking, wise strategy and successful execution that has seen him generally avoid the brutal rough which often waits just a couple of metres off the fairway.

Lawrie has followed a similar, conservative strategy and has recorded just two bogeys, one on each day, in 36 holes thus far.

“Experience has a lot to do with it, probably nobody has played this course as much as me – it’s my 16^th tournament here. I played well, just hitting fairways and greens, but it’s important to hit the ball in the right spot here,” Langer said.

While Langer, Haas and defending seniors champion Mark Calcavecchia have all enjoyed sub-par rounds on both days, the NGC regular pros have generally struggled, with no one really conquering the Gary Player Country Club.

The result has been a bunched leaderboard with first round leaders Bill Haas, the son of Jay, and Nicolas Colsaerts slipping back down the field on Friday.

Haas admitted he was surprised that it was the seniors who were playing the better golf on the same course at the same time, their only allowance being that their tees have been moved forward.

“I’m surprised the big names are not doing better. We’re probably driving the ball where they’re driving it, then they probably take one club less from there. But the thing about Bernhard is that he does not make many mental errors, he doesn’t give strokes away.

“Having forward tees is definitely an advantage on a couple of holes and nobody in our tournament gets close to the distance of those 12 golfers in the main event. But the situation is a little unusual right now,” Haas said.

But Langer, typically, is not allowing himself to get carried away, even though the Champions Challenge enters its final round on Saturday.

“Four strokes sounds like a lot, but there is still a lot of golf to be played and this course can grab you anywhere, every hole can get you, so I still have to play a solid final round of golf. If I keep swinging and rolling the ball the way I did today, then I should be okay,” Langer said.

The two-time Masters champion has certainly given a masterclass at Sun City, one that the regular pros have not been able to match. While Langer has shot 68-67, the best rounds in the NGC have been Friday’s 69s shot by Lawrie and Martin Kaymer.

Paul Lawrie emerged as the midway leader of the Nedbank Golf Challenge on Friday after another day of tough scoring at the Gary Player Country Club.

Lawrie shot a three-under-par 69 in the second round to move to four-under overall, a one-stroke lead over Germany’s Martin Kaymer, who matched the Scotsman’s 69 – the best two rounds of the day.

South Africans Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen are two strokes further back, in a tie for third on one-under-par with Italy’s Francesco Molinari and American Bill Haas.

But on a day in which the golfers continued to be agitated by a swirling wind and thick semi-rough, it was the consistent if conservative play of Lawrie and Kaymer that brought the greatest reward.

Lawrie played beautifully in the tough conditions, his only dropped shot coming on the par-four 15^th, and the 43-year-old was understandably content with his position midway through the $5 million tournament.

“I played nicely again. I struggled with the driver so I hit quite a few three-woods, which was a strong club for me today. I gave myself chances and I putted a lot better today.

“This course is demanding off the tee and you’ve got to be in play if you hope to go for the pins. It’s important to drive well, it’s pretty tough out there. The wind is swirling, chopping and changing, and it’s difficult to get your distance right,” Lawrie said.

But with no one being able to conquer Sun City’s famed course, the leaderboard is bunched and Kaymer said the weekend shootout was an appetizing prospect.

“There are eight golfers within five shots, so that’s quite nice. If you play good and a few putts drop, then you can shoot five or six-under, so nobody can relax,” Kaymer said.

Schwartzel struggled to find his best game but kept himself in contention by shooting a 71 that left him on one-under-par.

Oosthuizen joined him half-an-hour later with a birdie on the 18^th hole, while Haas needed an inward nine of just 33 shots to also finish in the tie for third.

Haas was the joint overnight leader with fellow NGC rookie Nicolas Colsaerts, but they both discovered just why a debutant has not won at Sun City since Mark McNulty in 1986.

Colsaerts, who shot a 70 on the first day, made a disastrous start to Friday’s second round with a double-bogey seven on the second hole and a triple-bogey at the par-four third hole, while Haas double-bogeyed the first and dropped further shots at the seventh and ninth holes, before fighting back well.

The long-hitting Belgian finished with a 78 and a tie for 10^th on four-over-par, eight shots off the pace.