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MIAMI : Charl Schwartzel may have to find alternative accommodation if he wins the CA Championship title.
Schwartzel stayed last week with Ernie Els at his fellow South African's home in nearby West Palm Beach and is scheduled to be a guest there next week too.
"He owes me. He might be sleeping in the garden," Els joked after earning a share of the third-round lead with Schwartzel in the World Golf Championships event on Saturday.
Els putted tentatively in a testing northerly breeze at Doral's Blue Monster, shooting a two-under-par 70 while Schwartzel carded a 67.
They were at 12-under 204, one stroke ahead of Irishman Padraig Harrington (67) and two in front of Australian Robert Allenby (71).
Els, 40, has long been a mentor of Schwartzel, who is 15 years younger, but there won't be easy favours as they play together in Sunday's final round.
"It's great for South African golf," Els said. "Tomorrow we play 18 holes as hard as we can."
Els perhaps should have opened a handy lead, because he missed short putts from about four feet at the 13th and 16th holes, as well as a couple of others from a little longer range.
"I felt a little uncomfortable on those shorter putts," he admitted. "It could have been the breeze. It cost me a little bit coming down the stretch.
"I played such good golf and I think that's why I probably put a bit more pressure on myself on the greens coming in, because I felt I could pull away a little bit, because I was hitting it so nicely.
"It's going to be a big day for me tomorrow and obviously I know that."
Big, too, for Schwartzel, who won the first two events of the year in South Africa in January but has played only rarely in the United States.
"Obviously this is a lot bigger than any others I won, but when it comes down to winning, you've still got to make the putts and hit the shots, so I'll keep reminding myself of that," Schwartzel said.
But it is unlikely to be an all-South African shootout, not with Harrington only one stroke behind after a bogey at the par-four 18th.
Harrington is never fussed whether he wins at this time of the year, preferring to take a long term view and peak in the summer, when three of the year's four majors are held.
Not that he wouldn't like to win on Sunday, but it's just not a big priority.
"There are three of us up there and whoever plays best is going to win," said the three-time major champion. "This week I was comfortable with how I was hitting the ball and so the mental side was the focus, and that's making the difference."
It might not be a three-way race either with Allenby just two strokes behind after a frustrating day on the greens. He putted better over the final eight holes and a birdie at the last lifted his confidence.
"My swing feels fantastic," he said.
- AFP/ir
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