Els fury as field is left high and dry

THE sun may have been shining but moods were decidedly dark on day three of the BMW PGA Championship. James Morrison, who led by four shots at the halfway stage, had a nightmare. So, too, after a promising start, did Borderer David Drysdale. As for Ernie Els, his blood was boiling from anger.

THE sun may have been shining but moods were decidedly dark on day three of the BMW PGA Championship. James Morrison, who led by four shots at the halfway stage, had a nightmare. So, too, after a promising start, did Borderer David Drysdale. As for Ernie Els, his blood was boiling from anger.

The man they call the Big Easy, due to his laid-back nature, was furious. His advice to prevent Wentworth’s West Course, which he himself re-designed, becoming too dry and bouncy in the widely-predicted heatwave appeared to have been ignored. It resulted in only three players out of 72 – leader Luke Donald, his nearest challenger Justin Rose and Ian Poulter – managing to break 70. The three men all had three-under 69s.

A scoreboard awash with red figures at the start quickly turned blue. So did the air later on.

Ben Curtis, the former Open champion, finished 8-8 for an 81, South African James Kingston limped home in 47 as he signed for an 85. It was all too much for Els, even though he carded a respectable 70. The South African was livid and didn’t pull any punches.

“I’m really pissed off as this forecast has been known about for about a week, meaning these conditions are no surprise,” he said. “Since landing here on Monday, I’ve been saying to [Wentworth golf courses manager] Chris Kennedy and the [European] Tour ‘please keep the moisture in the golf course’.

“I spoke to them last night and I spoke to them again this morning. But it is like talking to this wall behind me. I am fed up with this. It is a difficult but fair golf course – just set it up properly and we will have a championship.

“I’ve asked them to put water on the bloody greens and then I spoke to JP (John Paramor, the Tour’s chief referee) coming up the 15th and he said, ‘we did water it last night’. I said, ‘you have to triple that. You have a damn 30mph easterly breeze blowing, so put f*****g water on the greens’.”

As an example of how difficult it had become to hold the putting surfaces, Els himself hit a 4-iron second shot into the par-5 last that landed pin high, only to take off and end up in a bunker at the back. “If they put water on the damn green, you at least have a chance to hold the f*****g green,” added Els.

“It is difficult enough out there, but the Tour has really got to play ball now and the greens staff, too. I have been asking both to play ball with me for a while now, but they don’t listen. I can’t keep taking this and at some point they have to start listening.”

Richard Caring, the English billionaire who owns Wentworth, has listened to Els, forking out a fortune over the past few years on the changes he’s suggested for the course. Caring, it seems, has been short-changed by someone.

“Why is the 12th green dead?” Els ranted on. “Somebody is not doing their job. It’s not my bloody job to do this – and I am really disappointed. I know what’s right about the course set-up – I just wish I could get through to these guys.”

Paul Lawrie, who heads into the final round joint fourth alongside Els on five-under – the pair trail Donald, the defending champion, by six shots – echoed the two-time US Open champion.

“The course is getting really dry and bouncy and, because of the design of the course, it needs to be a bit softer,” said the Aberdonian, who ran up a double-bogey seven after straying a yard out of bounds at the 12th.

For the third day running he showed tremendous powers of recovery, this time finishing with three birdies on the spin. He notched the last of those just as the wheels were starting to come off Drysdale’s challenge. Playing in the final group, the 37-year-old from Cockburnspath was giving a splendid account of himself – he birdied the second and hadn’t put a foot wrong elsewhere – until he came to the eighth. Two balls in the greenside pond there resulted in a quadruple-bogey eight. Five more shots went in the next five holes and all his good work had been undone. He eventually signed for a 78 to drop back to joint-13th on two-under.

As for playing partner Morrison, it was as though his namesake, the singer-songwriter, had turned up instead

Faultless on his way to a 64 on Friday, the 27-year-old Surrey man had lost his lead to Drysdale and Donald within four holes, the main damage being caused by a triple-bogey eight following tree trouble at the fourth. He also “halved” the eighth with Drysdale in eight and limped to an 81, going from four in front to eight adrift.

Donald only needs to finish in the top eight here to reclaim the world No.1 spot from Rory McIlroy tonight. He’s on course to do that in style by joining Nick Faldo and Colin Montgomerie as the only players to retain this title. “It was tough out there both physically and mentally,” said the game’s greatest grinder after signing off a round that contained a solitary dropped shot by rolling in an 18-foot birdie putt at the last.

Rose is two back, Irishman Peter Lawrie a further two adrift, with two other South Africans – Richard Sterne (72) and Branden Grace (73) – alongside Els and the other Lawrie. “I played with Justin in the first two rounds and it is going to be a tough but fun last day,” added the leader.