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Els sees lead cut down to one shot

THIRTEEN proved unlucky for Ernie Els here yesterday. Four shots clear of the field after 12 holes of the penultimate round of the Johnnie Walker Classic, the South African appeared poised to open up an unassailable lead.

Then, the world number three's seemingly inexorable march to a second successive Classic triumph suffered a setback that was as unexpected as it was unfortunate.

Perfectly struck, his drive at the 394-yard, dog-leg right 13th landed in the fairway. To Els' dismay, though, his ball came to rest in a divot from where his approach shot found a greenside bunker.

After failing to get up-and-down from the trap, Els was still ruing his misfortune when he hit his seven-iron tee-shot at the 14th left of the island green and into the water hazard. A double-bogey five resulted.

'My drive landing in a divot was a really bad break, but that's the game. I was still thinking about it when I was on the next tee,' said Els, who went on to three-putt for a bogey five at the 16th.

Despite those travails, Els, three ahead at the start of play, clung on to top spot with a total of 206, although his advantage has been reduced to just one from England's Nick Faldo with Thai Prayad Marksaeng, the newly crowned Johnnie Walker Asia Player of the Year, a further shot back.

'I guess I'm a little lucky to shoot a 74 and still be in the lead. Some guys had a chance to go by me, but they didn't,' said Els, who admitted he was surprised at some of the mental errors he committed.

Faldo, bidding to become the first man to win a hat-trick of Classic crowns, was also less than pleased with life as he walked off the Blue Canyon Country Club course with a three-under-par 69.

The source of Faldo's apparent displeasure was a warning he received from PGA European Tour chief referee John Paramor for a 'bad timing' on the 17th tee.

According to Paramor, Faldo took 72 seconds to execute his tee-shot at the par-three, well over the 50 seconds permitted in the Tour's new guidelines, aimed at speeding up the pace of play.

After one warning, if a player receives another 'bad time' he incurs a one-stroke penalty, as happened to South African Wayne Westner and Northern Ireland's Raymond Burns on the first day.

Paired together in today's final round, Els and Faldo will be both aiming to stay out of trouble. Should they falter, there are at least 12 players within striking distance.

Zhang Lianwei and Tiger Woods are not among them. While Zhang returned a 74 yesterday and is tied for 26th on 216, Woods carded a 71 and shares 18th place on 214, eight strokes behind Els.

'I had my chances, but I did not play very well. I did not make any putts,' said Woods.

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