One should never underestimate the nastiness of the Fancourt Links and, after two rounds of low scoring, the course bit back on Saturday with Charl Schwartzel’s 68 the best round of the day and one of only 10 that were under-par.

Schwartzel’s outstanding round was enough to get the South African within a shot of the lead and the Masters champion achieved it despite having to get treatment for a sore elbow moments before he teed off.

“I only hit about 10 balls on the range because my elbow was giving me quite a few problems. The physio, Karen, gave me a quick stretch and hurt me a bit, but it was just a tight nerve and I never felt it on the course,” Schwartzel said after his round.

“But today was a lot tougher out there and to shoot five-under was very satisfying. I hit the ball the best I have in a long time, it was just flawless shot after flawless shot.”

Considering the carnage going on all around him, it was a top-class effort by Schwartzel to only make one bogey in his round, on the par-three 11th. In fact, the Masters champion could have posted a still better score were it not for a balky putter.

“All my birdies were basically tap-ins. The ball just wouldn’t go in the hole otherwise. It feels like I’m hitting good putts, I’m not starting them on-line and when I do, I’m just reading them wrong,” Schwartzel complained.

A blustery, gusting wind combined with steady showers to make Fancourt a treacherous place on Saturday.

“The wind and misty rain made it difficult. I was hitting four-irons into the wind where normally I’d be hitting a seven-iron. That’s how short the ball is going, the fairways are also a lot softer, and it’s very difficult hitting long-irons into these greens. You need to be wide awake and commit to whatever shot you’re playing because the margins are not big out there,” Schwartzel said.

Ironically, the one time the 27-year-old did take a chance, it paid off with an eagle-three at the ninth hole.

“I was actually considering laying up short of the ditch because there was a chunk of mud on the left side of the ball. The rule of thumb is that the ball will normally fly the opposite side of the mud and the wind was also off the left. But I was hitting the ball off a steep right-to-left slope, which tends to cause a pull, so I thought it would counter-balance the mud and wind. I had 264 yards and I hit a two-iron to six inches!” Schwartzel said with only a touch of exaggeration.

Schwartzel once again expressed his belief that the local golfers were favoured to win the title because of their course knowledge.

“You can’t come here and play one practice round and think you’re going to conquer the course. You need to know it really well because a lot of the slopes you can use to your benefit, but a lot of them can bite you,” he said.

Retief Goosen on Friday criticised the set-up of the Fancourt Links after finishing the second round six shots off the pace in the Volvo Golf Champions.

The two-time SA Open champion – he won the last of his crowns here at Fancourt in 2005 – is unhappy at the amount of moisture on the course.

“The course is extremely soft and I’m quite surprised. I had two tee shots today that came back on the fairway and yesterday I had another that had mud on it. You’re playing a links out there and it’s playing like a parkland, so it’s quite disappointing the way they are setting it up.

“There’s no wind and the course is drenched – that’s why there’s so much low scoring out there,” Goosen said.

The 42-year-old nevertheless tackled the conditions with aplomb, getting straight down to business with birdies at the first two holes, and Goosen said a good start and consistent ball-striking had led him to his five-under-par 68 on Friday.

Goosen parred the next five holes, before claiming another pair of birdies at the eighth and ninth holes. Further birdies on the 11th and 13th holes lifted the two-time US Open champion to six-under for the round and in touch with the leaders, but the course bit back as he bogeyed the par-four 14th and 15th holes. But Goosen regained one of the strokes with a birdie on the par-five 16th.

Playing partner Lee Slattery would have an even better day as he put together a brilliant eight-under-par 65 that lifted him into a tie for second with South African Thomas Aiken.

“You have to be a bit more aggressive on this course, you just have to take on a few more shots,” Slattery said. “It was just one of them rounds I’m going to remember for the rest of my life and hopefully it can kickstart something for me. I think it’s probably the best round of my career, with it being such a big event, with so many great players and playing with Retief.”

Goosen, Slattery and English amateur Mark Vandenburghe combined brilliantly to win the Volvo World Golf Challenge.

The top 18 finishers in the World Golf Final qualified to play with the professionals on Friday and the 50-year-old Vandenberghe, Goosen and Slattery finished on a combined 18-under-par total of 128, to beat Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, England’s Simon Dyson and Austrian amateur Henning Frech by three shots.

The three-ball’s prize was a brand new Volvo for each golfer, which brightened Goosen’s mood considerably.

“How great is this? I didn’t even have to make a hole-in-one,” Goosen said.

Branden Grace is taking his time, staying calm and keeping things simple; and it’s working as he stormed into the lead at the halfway mark of the Volvo Golf Champions at the Fancourt Links on Friday.

Grace fired a superb seven-under-par 66 on Friday to take a four-shot lead over England’s Lee Slattery and South African Thomas Aiken into the weekend, continuing his wonderful form after claiming the Joburg Open title last weekend.

“It’s been good, an amazing start to the year. I just feel really calm, which is a big relief and it’s nice to keep the nerves down. It’s great to be able to just go out there and play golf.

“I’ve changed my routines a bit: I used to be a very quick player, but I’m taking my time now, sticking to what I’ve decided to hit and keeping things as simple as possible. I’m just sticking to my game plan and minding my own business,” Grace said on Friday.

The 23-year-old lives in George and is therefore extremely familiar with the Fancourt Links, but Grace said he likes to keep the course for special occasions, like when he really wants to give his game a stern test.

“I only played here three or four times last year because it can hit your self-esteem! Mostly I come here just before I go to Europe and if I shoot under par then I know I’m ready to go. I play off the furthest tees and fire for the pins where they are really tucked away,” Grace explained.

“Today I hit the ball unbelievably well and in the right spots. On this course, you really need to drive well and, even though I missed a lot of fairways, they were just off and my iron-play was superb.

“Mentally I feel good and although the body has a few aches and pains, the physios are keeping me running. I’m just running with the momentum,” Grace said.

It looks increasingly as if Grace’s Joburg Open triumph was indeed a breakthrough win and the Race to Dubai leader is starting to fulfil his undoubted potential.