Abu Dhabi: The fight for the Falcon Trophy is all set to go right down to the wire as things have really heated up at the top of the leaderboard at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship going into the final day on Sunday.
EurAsia Cup-winning teammates Ross Fisher of England and Thomas Pieters of Belgium are jointly in the lead with 17-under at the end of round three.
Fisher shot a superb round of 65 to surge ahead after starting the day two shots behind overnight leader Pieters, who survived a scare on the final hole and managed a round of 67.
Four-time Major winner Rory McIlroy, a shot behind, is ready for a final assault as he bids to claim a title that has slipped out of his hand four times in the past.
Defending champion Tommy Fleetwood is also hanging in there with a bogey-free round of 67 to be tied on fourth with compatriot Matthew Fitzpatrick, who was the best of the lot on the day with a round of 63 to finish 15-under.
World No. 1 Dustin Johnson, despite starting off with a bogey on his first hole, finished with a round of 68 to be tied on 12-under with four others including two-time champion Paul Casey.
“I think I played pretty good today. I missed a lot of putts today. Made a couple of birdies early, which settled me down. The back nine, I played very good. But yeah, I couldn’t really make a putt.
“Hit one really close on 16 and 17, 18, pretty disappointing. I didn’t hit many good shots there but it’s still nice to make a par on the last,” said Pieters, who had to dig himself out of a precarious situation on the par-five final hole after finding the bunker.
“Hit a terrible drive and then chunked it coming out and hit a terrible 3-iron, bad bunker shot and good putt; 5,” said Pieters, who didn’t want to waste any time and wanted to hit the range straight away with the weather forecast for the final day expected to be windy.
“Will go to the range and hit some low shots because it’s going to be really windy tomorrow, and just looking forward to it.”
Fisher, who managed three birdies on the first four holes, stuttered a bit with a bogey on the fifth. However, he got his act together quickly and pocketed another two birdies before the turn.
Fitzpatrick had been going strong till then, having managed seven birdies in his front nine and two more on the back. However, a three-putt bogey on the 15th allowed Fisher to get on the tail of Pieters, whom he caught up with a birdie on the par-five final hole.
“Obviously, great fun getting out with Thomas, third day in a row, a lot of fun, a lot of banter. Just trying to hang on, felt like I played solid. Conditions got very windy and 17 and 18 were playing very tough,” said Fisher adding, “I’m hoping the Tour officials will see what the forecast is, set the course up tough, but fair. Looking forward to the challenge and see what happens.”
McIlroy, made his first bogey of the week on the 15th but made amends for a birdie two holes later and the Northern Irishman was pretty much pleased with his effort for the day saying, “I feel like I played similar again. I probably scored a bit better. Short game was needed at times. But I putted really well. Hit the ball very well. So all in all, yeah, it was another great round and another really good confidence builder. Not just for this week but for the rest of the season, as well.”
