World Cup team-mates Paul Casey and Justin Rose experienced contrasting fortunes in the third round of the Stg£500,000 Dunhill Championship today.
Casey moves into the reckoningWorld Cup team-mates Paul Casey and Justin Rose experienced contrasting fortunes in the third round of the Stg£500,000 Dunhill Championship today.
Casey made the most of his last-hole heroics yesterday to card a 65 this morning and climb back into the top 10, while Rose saw his hopes of defending his title effectively disappear.
Casey carded an opening 67 in Johannesburg but was seven over par after 15 holes of his second round yesterday, and at two over for the tournament looked certain to miss the halfway cut.
The 25-year-old needed to play the final three holes in three under par to make the cut on the mark of one under, and after a birdie on the 16th and par on 17, came to the last needing an eagle.
The former amateur star found the green on the 531-yard par five in two and duly converted his eagle putt from 10 feet to complete a remarkable escape.
And he carried on from where he left off this morning by carding a 65 for an eight-under total of 208 to climb up the leaderboard.
Birdies at the first two holes were followed by a par on the third, and when he birdied the fourth and holed from eight feet on the fifth for an eagle, his last six holes had been played in seven under.
The 2001 European Tour Rookie of the Year was disappointed to bogey the tough par-four ninth, but birdied the 11th and holed a bunker shot on the 16th for another eagle.
"I was trying to force it too much yesterday, pushing on after my good start," said Casey, who was considered for a Ryder Cup wild card by captain Sam Torrance in 2001, before the contest was postponed for 12 months.
"But I had to take the positives from the day, I knew I had to eagle the last and I did it. Today I went out with a good attitude and although I was a bit disappointed to throw in a bogey and not birdie the last, I'm very happy with a 65."
After starting at 6.43am local time in the second match on the course, Casey was back in the clubhouse long before the leaders were due to tee off.
When they did, overnight leader Bradley Dredge bogeyed the opening hole to fall back into a tie for the lead, but bounced back with birdies at the second and third to regain his place at the head of the field.
Denmark's Anders Hansen, the surprise winner of last year's Volvo PGA Championship, then overtook Dredge courtesy of four birdies in a row from the second, before a bogey on the eighth halted his charge.
Dredge, seeking his first tour victory, was quick to take advantage of Hansen's lapse, picking up his third birdie of the day on the seventh to move to 13 under and one ahead of Hansen.
South African Bradford Vaughan joined Hansen in second with his fourth birdie of the day on the 10th with English duo Mark Roe and Richard Bland two shots further back.
Meanwhile Rose was well back down the field on three under par with three holes of his round left.
The 22-year-old, whose victory at Houghton 12 months ago was the first of four last year, had carded three birdies but four bogeys and was too far back to mount a serious challenge on Sunday.