Cheetham ready to battle for first title
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Your support makes all the difference.Neil Cheetham is poised to snap up his first European Tour title at the Dunhill Championship in South Africa today as he takes a one-shot lead into the final round.
The 37-year-old from Worksop, who elected to pursue a career in golf ahead of football after a knee injury prevented him from signing for Sheffield Wednesday, leads the South African David Frost.
Cheetham needed an eagle on the last hole of Tour School to make it back on to the circuit. But he surprised many in South Africa by handling the Lowveld bush easily while many others have faltered.
The overnight leader, Peter Gustafsson of Sweden, began well with a birdie on the second but found the sweltering heat and swirling wind too much, dropping way off the pace with a disappointing 79.
Cheetham started quietly, but the critical moment for him came on the par-four eighth, where he pulled his shot right into a bunker but still found the inspiration to save par. "It was a day where I didn't drive the ball particularly well," he said. "I missed a lot of fairways, but in fairness I kept running through them.
"The eighth was almost a turning point for me. After going past the seventh, which everyone dreads, I lost my concentration a bit. It was my shot of the day, it was a great shot and it settled me down."
Cheetham thinks his short game can help to propel him to the title, but so will the fact that he is relishing the task. "I've just enjoyed myself all week," he said. "I just want to keep doing that, really, that's all. I'm just going to try to enjoy it as much as possible. The promise I made to myself this year, when I got my Tour card, was whatever tournaments I got into, I was just going to enjoy it. In 2001, when I had my Tour card, I didn't enjoy it as much as I could. I've missed a few chances on the greens today, but my short game was wonderful."
The world No 3, Ernie Els, eagled the last hole to indicate that he would still be in the running after his disappointing 75 in the second round. Els is one of three hometown players, the other two being Frost and Charl Schwartzel, with a chance of victory.
But he said he was "highly irritated" with his game. "The eagle was the first putt I made in two days," Els said. "Even though I have missed a lot of fairways, I have been hitting the driver unbelievably well and given myself a lot of chances. I am getting more and more irritated, because I'm just not capitalising on these chances."
Euan Little, of Scotland, is also in the running at four shots off the pace.
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