Steady Toms holds slender lead

David Toms only found out a week ago that he would be on a plane to Bermuda. But the experienced American, a stand-in for injured Open Champ Louis Oosthuizen, was first to find his groove at Port Royal yesterday.

He finished on four-under par and holds a slender lead over South African legend Ernie Els (-3) ahead of today’s final round.

It is hard to see beyond those two for a winner with U.S. Open champ Graeme McDowell enduring a topsy-turvy round to finish one-over and Martin Kaymer, struggling two shots further back.

Toms was in the zone early on stroking five birdies in the first ten holes.

His short game was exemplary — superb chips to within a few feet of the hole at nine and ten were, perhaps, the highlights of a steady round.

Els was more erratic, but more spectacular. His best and worst moments were encapsulated in a tumultuous final few holes, during which he clawed his way back to within a stroke of the lead.

At 15 — perhaps eager to get an early look at Port Royal’s most picturesque hole – he shanked his tee-shot onto the 16th.

Faced with an awkward shot from a thick clot of spiky purple bushes, he produced a stunning redemptive drive to save par. At 17 he was in the bushes again. This time it took a preposterous switch-hit  - a sweet left-handed drive with virtually no backlift to keep him in the mix.

At 18 he again produced his best golf when the chips were down. After finding the bunker with his tee shot he pulled off another magnificent recovery, driving to within a few feet to finish with a birdie.

Toms plateaued on the back nine, finishing four-under and Els will fancy his chances of overcoming that one shot deficit today.

For Irishman Graeme McDowell, an instant hit with the crowd, it was a case of what might have been.

He looked well set until a horror show at the eleventh hole saw his round deteriorate.

Having found the sand with an under-hit second shot on the tricky 443-yard par four, he tried a ‘fancy bunker shot’. It backfired spectacularly sailing over the green and out of bounds. His second effort was a slight improvement, but scarred his card with a horrific triple bogey that took some time to recover from.

‘That shot’ was still on his mind at the 12th when he three-putted to add another bogey to his score. And only a couple of well-made putts kept him within range as he clung to the back of the pack by his fingernails.

He reflected afterwards:

“It was just one of those days where one swing kind of unravels the day, shall we say. In this format, you can’t be making mistake like that.”

But maybe, just maybe, McDowell will get away with it. When he did regain his composure he finished strong, drawing whoops from an appreciative crowd with a birdie putt at 17 that rolled around the lip of the hole before dropping. At 18, another solid putt brought him back to one under — close enough to dream of an unlikely win.

“Happy to finish with a couple of birdies. Gives me half a chance tomorrow,” he concluded.

Kaymer, the in-form player in world golf right now, will have to have a miraculous turnaround to stand a chance himself tomorrow.

He made just one birdie all day and it was only his putter that saved him from a worst score than the three-over par he finished with.

But the boyish 25-year-old German star reflected that he was just thrilled to be here — playing alongside some of the game’s greats.

It has been a meteoric rise for Kaymer, who has been Europe’s top golfer this year and has reached number four in the world on the back of some stunning performances.

He admitted that he had a bit of a ‘moment’ on the 16th hole, gazing into the clear blue ocean and reflecting on how far he had come in such a short space of time.

“That was one of those moments where you realize you’ve made it, you’re a winner, that you’re playing with a three-time major winner, Ernie Els, David Toms who won the 2001 PGA Championship. 

“It takes sometime to realize.  It’s not normal what I’ve done the last few years, especially this year.

“It was just one of those moments where you think about it.”

The course drew gasps from the rest of the assembled stars too.

Els, a champion at this event when it was held in Hawaii in 1997, concluded: “I love going to Hawaii.  But, I mean, I also love coming to Bermuda, believe me.  It’s a lot closer.  Beautiful scenery.  Very good golf course.  The golf course is in great shape.  We had a big gallery with a lot of enthusiasm.  You can’t ask for much more than that.”