Pádraig falters at the finish

GOLF:PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON again faltered in sight of the clubhouse at the Volvo Golf Champions in South Africa as back-to-back bogeys on the 16th and 17th and another double-bogey on the last saw him drop back down the leaderboard at Fancourt.

A double-bogey on the 18th had undone his opening round after he had carded six birdies, but after dropping a shot on the sixth yesterday morning, he put together five birdies in eight holes from the eighth to move to eight under and a share of third place.

His round unravelled after that, with bogeys on the par-five 16th and the short 17th before closing for the second day with a seven on the final hole as he took three putts to navigate the treacherous green. That all added up to a level-par 73 and he remains on four under for the tournament.

British Open champion Darren Clarke carded seven birdies and two bogeys in a five-under-par 68 that moved him to four under for the tournament, while Michael Hoey improved on his opening 78 when carding a one-under 72 to lie on four over for the tournament.

South African Branden Grace stormed into a four-shot lead to boost his chances of recording back-to-back European Tour victories.

Grace fired a seven-under 66 for a 12-under total of 134, four ahead of fellow countryman Thomas Aiken (70) and Briton Lee Slattery (65). Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal (68), seeking his first win for seven years, was fourth on 139.

The 35-strong field at Fancourt features last season’s European Tour winners plus active golfers who are under 50 and have at least 10 career victories.

Olazabal almost won a car when he lipped out for a hole-in-one at the short 17th but the 45-year-old, who is down at 596th in the world rankings, was nevertheless pleased to show the sort of form that won him two US Masters in his heyday.

“The last couple of years I’ve played pretty poorly so improving on that was not all that difficult,” said the Spaniard.

Grace, 23, said last week’s Joburg Open triumph had given him “a real calm” on the course. “It’s great to keep the nerves down and just go out there and play golf,” he said. “I’ve changed my routines a bit, I’m taking my time, sticking to what club I’m going to hit and keeping things as simple as possible. I’m just sticking to my game plan and minding my own business.”

Slattery’s eight-under 65 was the round of the day, an effort he said he would never forget.

“It was one of those rounds I’m going to remember for the rest of my life and hopefully it can kickstart something for me,” said the 33-year-old journeyman professional. “It’s probably the best round of my career. I decided to play the course a bit more aggressively, hit a lot more drivers off the tee and just take on a few more shots.”

Overnight leader Nicolas Colsaerts followed his course-record 64 in the opening round with a disappointing 76. The Belgian was among a group of seven players on 140 that included double US Open champion Retief Goosen and 2010 British Open winner Louis Oosthuizen.