Dubai: Sergio Garcia shot two birdies in complete darkness at the end of his third round on Saturday, carding a 68 to finish three strokes clear at the top of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic leaderboard on 16 under par.
High winds had seen Friday’s second round suspended and split into two days with half the field having to come back out on Saturday morning to complete their second round before the commencement of their third.
This forced proceedings to finish late on Saturday, but the Spaniard thrived in the shadows despite the tiredness of having played 31 holes in a day.
He was one under through five in the second round after carding two birdies and a bogey before play was suspended on Friday.
But then he came back out on Saturday morning to complete his second round with a further three birdies on the last four holes of his front nine, before a bogey and two birdies on his back saw him sign for a five under 67.
Garcia, who had led after Thursday’s first round with a seven under 65, then got a 68 in his third round thanks to a bogey-birdie start followed by five birdies and a bogey on his back nine.
“That wasn’t easy,” said the 37-year-old former World No. 2. “I was a little shaky here and there at the beginning, but the back nine was great. I had a lot of good putts and overall I’m happy with my round.
“At the end it was very, very dark, I’ll tell you that. When we were walking on 17, I thought, well, it will probably be a little dark, but not too bad.
“But then it gets dark very, very quickly here. I couldn’t really see much on the last three shots. I pretty much couldn’t see the ball land and the last putt was a little bit of a feel and a little bit of a read that my caddie gave me, and I’m very fortunate to have been able to make it.
“I definitely have a great chance of winning this tournament and I’m going to give it my all tomorrow,” added Garcia, who is three strokes clear of Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, with England’s Ian Poulter and Thailand’s Prom Meesawat a further two strokes behind.
Stenson was also part of the unlucky half of the field that had their second rounds cut in half. And having been level par through five at the point that play was abandoned on Friday, he returned on Saturday to finish that back nine with a birdie, before four birdies and a bogey on his return, to sign for a second consecutive 68.
Last year’s Open champion then hit two birdies and a bogey on his front nine and four birdies, including one in the dark at the end, on his return.
“I’m pleased with that. It was a good back nine,” said Stenson. “I’m happy to get the round finished. We had to rush a little bit there to get onto 18. But it was a nice putt for birdie and it closed the day out nicely.
“If I’m two or three behind Sergio, that’s where you want to be, to try and apply some pressure on the front nine. Anytime you can be within a couple of shots heading into the back nine, you can make it happen, so I’m very pleased with the day’s work.”
Leading third-round scores in the $2.5 million Dubai Desert Classic on Saturday at the par-72 Emirates Golf Club:
200 — Sergio Garcia (ESP) 65-67-68
203 — Henrik Stenson (SWE) 68-68-67
205 — Ian Poulter (ENG) 67-71-67, Prom Meesawat (THA) 69-68-68
206 — Peter Uihlein (USA) 69-68-69, George Coetzee (RSA) 66-70-70
207 — Tyrrell Hatton (ENG) 72-70-65, Raphael Jacquelin (FRA) 70-71-66, Chris Paisley (ENG) 71-66-70, Nacho Elvira (ESP) 67-68-72
208 — Graeme McDowell (NIR) 68-72-68, Curtis Luck (AUS) 72-68-68
209 — Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG) 69-72-68, Martin Kaymer (GER) 71-69-69, Rafael Cabrera-Bello (ESP) 71-69-69, Lasse Jensen (DEN) 69-70-70, Maximillian Kieffer (GER) 69-70-70, Brandon Stone (RSA) 70-69-70, David Lipsky (USA) 67-72-70
210 — Chris Wood (ENG) 70-72-68, Joost Luiten (NED) 71-71-68, Darren Fitchardt (RSA) 71-70-69, James Morrison (ENG) 71-70-69, Magnus A Carlsson (SWE) 71-68-71
211 — Justin Walters (RSA) 71-70-70, Renato Paratore (ITA) 69-72-70, Matthew Southgate (ENG) 72-66-73
212 — Lee Westwood (ENG) 71-74-67, Gavin Green (MAL) 70-74-68, Stephen Gallcher (SCO) 72-71-69, Jorge Campillo (ESP) 68-75-69, Thomas Pieters (BEL) 71-71-70, Alexander Levy (FRA) 71-70-71, Simon Dyson (ENG) 70-70-72
