The birdies were flying on Saturday at Al Hamra Golf Club as the Ras Al Khaimah Championship lived up to its billing as it took its bow on the DP World Tour.
The inaugural tournament — a $2 million event that follows on from the recent Rolex Series Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic in the UAE — has thrilled spectators so far who have made their way to the emirate to watch some of the top and promising golfers on the DP World Tour.
David Law let his lead slip as Nicolai Hojgaard took over at the top on a whopping 20-under thanks to a stellar round of 64 during Saturday’s third round.
The Scotsman tried to stay in touch with a 69 and is now three back after a painful bogey on the last. He could not keep up with Hojgaard, who could even afford the luxury of two bogeys on a card that also included eight birdies and an eagle.
The leaderboard was a sea of red as scores tumbled all day long, with every player bar one under par through three rounds in Ras Al Khaimah. Thriston Lawrence, the winner of the season opener at the Joburg Open in November, was propping up the players who made the cut on level par. More than 30 players shot a score in the sixties.
The chasing pack was led by flying Finn Tapio Pulkkanen, whose 64 took him to third spot on 16-under. South Africa’s Oliver Bekker holds fourth one shot back, with a host of players looming on 14-under, including Belgium’s Thomas Detry, England’s Jordan Smith, American Johannes Veerman and Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre.
Shaun Norris and Dubai resident Adrian Otaegui are in a share of ninth on 12-under. Nicolai Hojgaard’s twin brother Rasmus was also in the top 15 after carding a 68 to take him to 11-under.
“It felt the same as yesterday actually, played really solid,” Nicolai said. “I got off to a really good start today. I’m driving really well at the moment so I’m trying to play quite aggressive and the last two days have been good off the tees, that’s the reason why I’m shooting all these good scores at the moment. It was pretty good out there.
”You want to be in these positions in the final round, but it’s 18 more holes and a lot can happen in 18 holes. I’ve heard it will be a little more windy so you never know. I’m going to try and do the same things out on the course, commit and free up and then I’ll feel like I have a good chance.”
Law was still hurting over the 18th hole as he added: “It’s annoying to finish like that. I played pretty good until the last four holes and then I struggled. Got a bit greedy, thought we could maybe nick it with a three wood, chase it up the front and make a four which is a mentality you want to have. You’re always trying to better yourself and get better. I probably shouldn’t have taken that shot on, but if I had that shot again I’d probably do it again too. I played really well, felt comfortable. It wasn’t that great at the start and then I birdied three and that settled me down, and I played well from then. There were a lot of positives and a lot of things to take into tomorrow.”
