Stuart Manley has spectacular blow-up after hole-in-one fails to bag him a new Mercedes at World Cup

WELSH golfer Stuart Manley walked to the back of the tee and patted the shining silver Mercedes Benz at Royal Melbourne on Saturday. He thought he would collect the keys later after his centimetre-perfect eight-iron at the 161m par-three hole disappeared into the cup for a spectacular ace.Alas, a World Cup official broke the bad news as the excited 34-year-old watched his playing partner putt out - the hole-in-one prize, valued at $129,000, applied only for Sunday.

"I asked him can you let me know if it does count because I was pretty pumped up. I was devastated,'' Manley said after a one-over 72 left him tied eighth heading into today's final round.If that wasn't bad enough, what followed can only be described as golf's equivalent of a train wreck as Wales lone representative in the tournament took 11 strokes to complete the 401m par-four fourth hole.After Manley's drive buried in heavy rough, he could only chip out sideways before chunking his approach shot into a greenside bunker. He blasted through the green onto a hill and watched his chip shot scurry across the green and down a slope, coming to rest 20m below the green.He admitted he lost count of the number of times he chipped and watched in dismay as the ball twice rolled back to his feet. Eventually, he managed to get the ball to settle on the back-to-front sloping putting surface and took three putts to finish the hole a horrible seven-over par. Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar. End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar. "I was still pumped up walking up to the tee. I just made a couple of bad swings on that hole, it's just the way it goes, I guess,'' Manley said."I kept asking my caddie 'how many is that?' I actually thought it was one less, but I wasn't going to argue. My head was pretty fried, to be honest."I heard a few giggles and laughs and cheers when I actually finished out. I felt pretty bad at the end, but it's golf and I'm glad to still be in the top 10.''

 

Manley, who had started his third round with birdie, birdie and the hole-in-one eagle, regrouped to pick up a birdie two holes later, grabbed another at the short 14th and then holed a 15m chip for an eagle at the par-five 15 on the way to his adventurous 72 and two-under for the tournament."If someone had said you'll be two-under at the end after an 11, I would've taken that.,'' he said."I'm pretty strong mentally, but it was a slap in the face and gives you a wake-up call. I was playing good golf, I just had one nightmare hole. I started birdie, birdie and obviously the hole-in-one. I knew the game was there to bounce back.''It's a fair bet that he will never again sign a scorecard that starts 3-4-1-11 for the first four holes.Manley made the long dash to Melbourne after regaining his European tour card at a six-rounds qualifying school in northern Spain last week.He didn't even have time to get behind the wheel of his car at home in Aberdare. "It's a Vauxhall Insignia. It's fairly new, but it doesn't compare to that Mercedes,'' he said.
 

AN ANYTHING-BUT-REGULATION 72

Stuart Manley's amazing third round
              
Hole Par Score To par

1 4 3 -1

25 4 -2

3 3 1 -4

4 4 11 +3

5 3 3 +3

6 4 3 +2

7 4 4 +2

8 4 5 +3

9 4 4 +3

10 4 4 +3

11 4 4 +3

12 4 4 +3

13 4 4 +3

14 3 2 +2

15 5 3 E

16 4 4 E

17 4 4 E

18 4 5 +1

THE HORRROR HOLE

1. Drove into rough, 2. Chipped out sideways onto the fairway, 3. Dumped approach shot into front bunker, 4. Blasted onto a hill behind the green, 5. Pitch ran across the green and down a slope in front coming to rest 20m below the green, 6. Chip rolled back to his feet, 7. Second attempt again rolled back off the green, 8. More solid pitch ran 12m past the pin, 9. Putt ran 2m past the cup. 10. Putt up the hill to near the cup. 11 Tap in for a seven-over 11