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Sterne takes one-stroke lead in Phuket

South Africa's Richard Sterne fired a second consecutive 64 to take a one stroke lead into the final round of the Johnnie Walker Classic yesterday as countryman Retief Goosen conceded defeat.

Sterne started the tournament with a three-over-par 75 and looked a safe bet to miss the cut but a 64 on Friday propelled him up the leaderboard and a repeat performance yesterday put him in front.

He is 13 under par, one ahead of England's Oliver Wilson.

Three South Africans fill the top five positions with Anton Haig in third, two shots adrift, and Goosen in fifth at eight under par.

New Zealand's Richard Lee is at nine under.

World number five Ernie Els bounced back after a disappointing first two rounds with a 67 to be seven shots behind.

Sterne said he was ready to head to the airport after a miserable first round, but now believed he could win.

"After shooting three over in the first round I actually brought my bags to the golf course Friday because I thought I'd have to get my flight at 8pm," he said.

"A bit of a change around. I played good golf and made good putts and that makes a big difference. I'm excited because I'm playing pretty well, but, you know, anything can happen," Sterne said.

Seesawing

Goosen had a seesawing round, with three birdies in the first four holes pushing him into the lead. But three consecutive bogeys halted the momentum.

"I started off good but then, for some reason, it went a bit pear-shaped," said the world number six. "So, five shots off the lead, I think the tournament is pretty much gone for me."

Els sank five birdies to no bogeys in his 67, but was disappointed not to grab a few more and knows he has virtually no hope of a first victory of the season.

"I played really good today. I could have made a lot more birdies but missed quite a few putts," he said.

Australian world number four Adam Scott was cruising nicely at five under for the day but three bogeys on his final three holes blew any thoughts he had of challenging for the title. His 70 left him 10 behind.

A bogey on the 16th spoiled Colin Montgomerie's round and despite recovering with two birdies on the 17th and 18th the feisty Scot is six off the lead.

"Two birdies on the last two was good but to take six on the 16th was ridiculous," he said. "A 70 wasn't what I wanted."

China's number one Liang Wen-chong blitzed round the Blue Canyon course in 67 to be seven under for the tournament and Asia's best-placed player alongside Taiwan's Wang Ter-cheng.

Rising star

Liang, rated as one of the region's top rising stars, said he should have holed more putts, but was content.

"I had numerous birdie chances on the front nine but only made one. I missed three chances from inside eight feet which was disappointing," Liang said.

"But I started to hole my putts on the back nine so I was happy to finish with a 67. I've been stroking the ball rather poorly but it was a lot better today," he said.

Among other Asians, India's Jeev Milkha Singh fired a 71 to be one behind Liang.

Thai favorite Thongchai Jaidee slipped up with a 75 and is out of contention.
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