Jordan and Meronk tame the wind to lead in Qatar Masters

Matthew Jordan and Adrian Meronk will on Sunday go in search of their maiden DP World Tour titles after claiming a share of the third round lead at the Qatar Masters.

The duo, who both graduated from the European Challenge Tour in 2019, battled the high winds at Doha Golf Club to reel in overnight leader Pablo Larrazabal and open a one-stroke lead on eight under par, one shot clear of Finland’s Kalle Samooja in third on seven-under.

England’s Jordan posted a two-under par round of 70 which included a stunning five-under back nine, while Poland’s Meronk birdied two of the final four holes to card a level-par 72 and join Jordan at the top of the leaderboard. Should Meronk go on to claim victory on Sunday, he would become the first player from Poland to win on the DP World Tour.

Samooja, playing in the ninth group of the day, took advantage of his early tee time and put himself into contention for his first DP World Tour title with a six under par round of 66, the low round of day three in Doha, before the wind picked up in the afternoon and made scoring difficult for the later groups.

Spaniard Larrazabal eventually carded a three-over 75 but remains just two shots off the lead in a tie for fourth place on six-under countryman Adrian Otaegui and South Africa’s Wilco Nienaber. Four players share seventh place on five-under, including Scotland’s Ewen Ferguson, Chase Hanna of the United States, Italy’s Edoardo Molinari and Denmark’s Niklas Norgaard Moller.

The stage is set for a thrilling final day at Doha Golf Club, with 18 players within four shots of the lead.

Meronk said: “I’m very pleased to be honest. It was super tough. I knew it was going to be tough, it was a grinding day but I’m very satisfied with the result and looking forward to tomorrow.

“You have to stay patient. You’re going to hit some bad shots, some really bad shots, and you just have to accept it and stay patient. I knew I was going to make some bogeys but I just kept going, kept hitting good shots and I’m glad I did. I’m excited, it’s going to be a great day. Let’s have some fun.”

Jordan added: “It’s really hard. I always find putting is so difficult because I don’t know whether to play for the wind or leave it alone so it’s just guesswork. The greens are firm, you’re just predicting what’s going to come. You don’t really know, it’s just educated guessing really.”