Send The Barmy Army Down To Watch This Instead
Sun Herald
Sunday November 26, 2006
AARON Pike's nerves were being tested like never before. Even before the little-known Queensland amateur teed off in the third round of the Australian Masters at Huntingdale with world-class Englishman Justin Rose in hot pursuit of his shock overnight lead, Pike could feel the heat of a swarm of others surging up the leaderboard.
They included defending champion Robert Allenby and three-time Masters winner Craig Parry. The strapping Pike, coming off rounds of 64-69, attacked from the outset, unleashing his driver on the first hole, where most players were choosing to err on the side of caution with a long iron.Pike grimaced as his drive flew left. As he strode off the tee, the announcer declared: "Play well, gentlemen." Pike found his ball hard up against a tree near a bottle of beer. It was unplayable - and the worst possible start to the biggest round of his life. "Need any help?" Rose asked Pike, who was starting the day 11 under and two shots ahead of the Englishman. "No? OK." Rose went to the green, where his ball was sitting pretty, for two shots. A birdie putt was looming. Pike appeared to make a grave mistake without much help from his caddie. He could have taken his penalty drop clear of the trees, albeit further from the green, but opted instead to drop within two club lengths of the bushes, meaning he still had a near-impossible shot.Former Australian Open champion Wayne Riley, commentating for Channel Seven, talked with Rose on the fairway and they couldn't work out why Pike had not taken his drop further from trouble, somewhere he could take a full swing. Pike's long bogey putt shaved the hole, Rose made par and suddenly they were joint leaders. Allenby and Parry both birdied two of their first three holes to make their presence felt. Starting the day well off the pace, seven shots adrift, they were now right on it. With television cameras following his every move and a large gallery traipsing around the famous course with him, there would be nowhere for the 21-year-old Pike to hide.Every expectation was that he would fold like a cheap suit as no fewer than 29 players charged to within five shots of the lead. A bogey on the third left Pike one shot shy of Rose.Coming off a big on the US PGA Tour, where he pocketed more than $US1.6 million ($2.06 million) in prizemoney and carded a 12-under-par 60 at the Funai Classic at the Walt Disney World Resort last month, Rose was the man to beat.Parry snuck up to eight under and once he gets in the hunt, he always stays there. The big-hitting Pike kept swinging away but his misses were proving costly. Marcus Fraser carded a six-under-par 66 and one-putted every green from the ninth to the 17th. He was in the clubhouse at seven under with Pike and Rose still only on the fourth.A bad read from Rose on a birdie putt left him with a monstrous par putt and missed, and West Australian Greg Chalmers was suddenly in front at 11 under, but only by one, with nine players within three shots. Play-off, anyone? "It got a bit ridiculous there for a while," Fraser said of his putting. Two-time Australian Open champion and Huntingdale expert Aaron Baddeley was one of those hovering.It was a brisk day and the wind was threatening to pick up for the afternoon groups. Rose, unlike Pike, was used to being near the top of a leaderboard, not that Pike was completely fading from view. He lipped out for a birdie at the par-five sixth hole to stay just one off the pace. Another Englishman, Paul Casey, was also in contention. The Barmy Army might be advised to ditch their cricketers at the Gabba and get down to Huntingdale if they want to see a victory this weekend.Pike thumped a drive past Rose down the seventh fairway. He gives his driver an almighty rip. Parry kept giving himself makeable birdie putts but couldn't sink them as he hit the home stretch. Peter Lonard was also heading in the right direction. Saturday is moving day at any golf tournament, especially this one.
© 2006 Sun Herald