Charl Schwartzel heads into the weekend two behind at the Wells Fargo Championship as he looks to build on his recent upturn in form, writes WADE PRETORIUS.
Schwartzel, ranked outside the top 120 in the FedExCup, combined with Louis Oosthuizen to finish third at the Zurich Classic and admitted that a tip from his friend has been helpful in getting his game back on track.
‘He came to me and he said, “You know, everything is just really quick. Everything looks good, it’s just very quick,”‘ Schwartzel revealed.
‘It made a lot of sense to me and I sort of tried to slow it down and it felt really comfortable. So it turned for me and I basically started swinging the club much better.’
The 2011 Masters champion went out in 33, with two birdies in the course’s famed Green Mile and gains at both of the par fives, before consolidating with two more on his inward nine. Each nine had a bogey on a par three but the progress is clear to see as he now goes in search of a third win on US soil.
Quail Hollow might not be the best place to look for form with Oosthuizen, Retief Goosen and Ernie Els all missing the cut by a single stroke. Oosthuizen will rue a double on the 17th after finding the water off the tee and doubling the hole to miss the weekend.
Els made the same mistake and Goosen’s 69 was not enough. Missing the mark by two was Dylan Frittelli, who was seven shots better than Thursday but left himself too much to do in North Charlotte. Also missing the weekend were Tommy Fleetwood, Chris Paisley, Alex Noren, Ryan Moore and Smylie Kaufman.
Rory McIlroy suffered a rare bad round at one of his favoured venues despite a 376-yard drive on the 9th hole. The former world No 1 birdied that hole from four feet but could only fire a 76 and sits at +2 through 36.
Another player who enjoys Quail Hollow, Rickie Fowler, moved his score to -1 after a 69 that included three birdies a single drop.
Photo: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images
