DUBAI // Lee Slattery started the week holed up in bed with a heavy cold. He ended Saturday burning up the course on the most feverish hot streak imaginable.
To say someone is on fire at Jumeirah Golf Estates does not always carry the standard connotations.
The DP World Tour Championship is played around Earth Course, while the neighbouring set up on the same plot is the Fire Course. So it might refer to wildly errant shotmaking, or just bad geography.
The accepted meaning could be applied to Slattery’s Round 3 finish, which included back-to-back eagles at 14 and 15.
In all, the Englishman needed just five putts when playing the final five holes, which he played in six under par, despite firing his tee-shot at 18 into the water.
[Pairings and tee times (UAE) for DP World Tour Championship — Round 3]
“I don’t really know what happened,” Slattery said of his eagle, eagle, birdie, birdie, par finish.
“I just stuck in there. I just made that eagle and it seemed to turn things around. To eagle the next straight after it is very rare to do. It was an incredible finish.”
Wife Faye was there to share in the joy, which was only fair seeing as she has been largely to thank for getting him on the course.
He said they had been calling her “Nurse Faye” as both he and his young son struggled with illness at the start of the week.
So poorly was Slattery, who is hunting a place in the European team for the Ryder Cup next year, he says he was unable to hit any balls at all in practice.
By the time he had hit his first 200 on the course, he finally found his range. At that point, he was 5-over, and in last place. He needed just 15 more strokes, and finished the day under par.
His indifferent health and form over the opening two days might have dampened his mood, but he is just happy to be here.
Until recently, he had been more concerned with the prospect of having to go to Qualifying School in Girona, Spain, next season rather than ending this one at the carnival for the Tour’s top 60 players.
“It is disappointing to feel like this in the biggest event of the year,” said Slattery, who started the week in 47th in the Race to Dubai standings.
“At the same time, when I look back to the beginning of September, with 160,000 euros, and thinking about the Race to Girona, it is an incredible feeling to be here, playing with some of the best golfers in the world.”
