St Andrews, Scotland - Richard Sterne produced one of the finest rounds seen over the years at the iconic Old Course, signing for a seven-under-par 65 on Saturday which means he's in the hunt for the title in the $5-million Alfred Dunhill Links Championship which ends on Sunday.
"I played real good, hitting it close to set up the birdies and made some crucial par saves coming in on the back nine," said the 35-year-old who has won six times on the European Tour.
Sterne is lying in joint third place on 13-under-par 203 going into on Sunday's final round, also over the Old Course, and is four shots behind England's Tyrrell Hatton who with a birdie-birdie finish - that meant he made an impressive three at the treacherous par-4 17th Road Hole - posted a spectacular, record-equalling 62 on this 500-year-old links which is the Home of Golf to be top of the leaderboard on 17-under 199.
Tyrrel's compatriot Ross Fisher is lying second on 14-under 202 following a 69 on Saturday at Carnoustie, the toughest of the three courses used for this celebration of links golf, with Kingsbarns also coming into the reckoning.
On a beautiful, warm, sunny and mostly wind-free autumn day at St Andrews, Sterne was bogey-free with birdies on the front nine on holes 1, 3, 6 and 7 as he reached the turn in four-under-par 32. He then birdied holes 10, 12 and 13 to be seven under through 13 holes, with a magnificent nine threes in that stretch of holes.
At the monstrous 618-yard par-5 14th he hit his tee-shot into a dreaded Beardies bunker, and could do no more than just move the ball a few yards forward onto the fairway before hitting driver off the grass from just over 300 yards out onto the fringe of the green, where he was faced with a long chip but managed to hit it close enough to skillfully save par.
"So that was a good save and I also did well to save par at the 17th," added the Pretoria-born professional who drove into the left rough at this treacherous par-4, hit his second just short of the green and then chipped up to seven feet before holing what could be a crucial putt in the context of the tournament.
"Look, I hit it pretty good all day and those par-saves helped in posting a good score. It was quite tough coming in late in the afternoon when there was a bit of wind. But generally conditions were pretty good on Sunday and I'm glad I was able to take advantage. I'm always inspired coming to the Home of Golf with all its history and to win here would be massive, but I think it's going to take a 65 or a 66 tomorrow to do that.
"I do feel what counts in my favour is that I've won before on the European Tour and can draw on those previous experiences." Leader Hatton, on the other hand, has never won at this level and it remains to be seen whether he can hold on to his advantage, taking into account his relative inexperience.
Sterne was dressed all in black on Saturday. South Africa's greatest golfer, Gary Player, was the Black Knight of the game. Maybe, if he wins on Sunday, Sterne can become the Black Prince.
Sterne has been with South African caddie Elvis Seme for five years and the pair make a good partnership, the 38-year-old bag-man, father of five children, helping with lines both off the tee and on the putting green on Saturday.
The 54-hole cut here on Saturday night was at three-under-par 213 which meant South Africans Louis Oosthuizen (68 at St Andrews for 210), Jaco Ahlers (69 at Kingsbarns for 210), George Coetzee (69 at St Andrews for 210), Tjaart van der Walt (67 at St Andrews for 2011), Jbe Kruger (75 at Carnoustie for 211), Ulrich van den Berg (74 at Carnoustie for 212), Rhys West (71 at Carnoustie for 213) and Erik van Rooyen (72 at Carnoustie for 213) all made the grade, in the separate pro-am competition, 20 teams made the 54-hole cut and Van den Berg and his amateur partner Allan Stanton, are lying joint second on 27-under-par with Hatton and Fifty Shades of Grey star Jamie Dornan, two back of leaders Adrian Meronk and Johan Eliasch.
Independent Media