Schwartzel leading, concern for Seve
by Richard Field, 12 October 2008
Charl Schwartzel birdied the final hole to take a one-shot lead into the final round of the Madrid Masters as the worrying news concerning the health of Seve Ballesteros overshadowed events in the Spanish capital.
Speculation on the course suggested Ballesteros has a brain tumor although this is unconfirmed, but Schwartzel [66] kept his thoughts in check to eagle the par-five seventh and land four birdies with two bogeys also on his card.
The South African – at 14-under – is a shot clear of Ricardo Gonzalez who fashioned a blistering nine-under-par 62 which included a devastating back nine containing an eagle and six birdies to apply the pressure.
Spaniard Pablo Larrazabal [62] matched the Argentine’s score to reach 11-under to hold sole possession of third, a shot clear of Carlos Del Moral, Andrew Tampion and Paul Waring.
Welshman Sion Bebb and Ireland’s Damien McGrane both carded 68s to sit in a group at eight-under.
Jose Maria Olazabal [71] said he is happy with his progress on his comeback as he trails the leader by 14 strokes, but he was more defensive when asked about the situation of his mentor Ballesteros.
“I don’t want to talk about Seve until we have more details about what is going on.”