Blistering third round sets Schofield up for victory

The win of Michael Schofield in the Otago senior stroke play championship at the weekend aptly demonstrated the vagaries of golf.
Opening rounds of 74 and 79 on the tricky Balmacewen course left the Castlepoint club's greenkeeper all of seven shots of the pace and seemingly out of the running for the title.
But all that changed in round three when some superb putting allowed Schofield to shoot a five under par 66 and rocket into second place, just two shots shy of the leader.
From there it was a case of maintaining the momentum in the final round and Schofield did just that by registering another sub par round of 70, enough to give him the championship by a solitary stroke.
There were some nervous times before he nailed the win though with what he labelled "basic mistakes" costing him four shots on the last two holes, both of them testing affairs even without the wind which had sprung up as the final round progressed.
Fortunately, however, the solid golf played by Schofield earlier in the round was enough to stave off any challenges although his winning margin was whittled back to one shot.
"I did think I might have blown it with those last two holes. I didn't adjust to the wind and hit a couple of bad ones," Schofield admitted.
"Everything had been going along nicely until then too, it sort came out of the blue."
Schofield, just 18 years old and a member of the Masterton Golf Club where he plays off a handicap of plus 1.9, described his latest success as :probably the best" of his career, hardly surprising when you consider the field included many of the South Island top male players.
He said the victory was due in large part to the accuracy of his putting which was the strong point of his game in all four rounds.
"I didn't miss any putts I should have made, and got a few which I possibly normally wouldn't make," he said.
Schofield's Balmacewen win followed hard on the heels of a fourth placing at the national under-23 stroke play championships, won by another very promising Masterton player in Ben Campbell.
And it further fuelled ambitions to try his luck on the professional circuit although he says that it is probably two or three years away yet.
"That's the aim but obviously it's important to keep playing well and getting good results,' he said.
"I'm not ready yet but hopefully it'll happen.".