Alejandro Del Rey (-16) has confidently seized the lead at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship after the third round. The Spanish player signed a card of 66 strokes, six under par for the day, and will head into the final round tomorrow with an interesting two-stroke advantage over the previous leader, Englishman Marcus Armitage (-14, today a round of 70 strokes) and, more importantly, a seven-stroke lead over the third-placed players, Frenchman David Ravetto (-9), South African Shaun Norris (-9), and Australian Jason Scrivener (-9).
Without wishing to jinx the Spaniard and the Englishman, the reality is that Sunday should be a head-to-head between the two, Del Rey and Armitage, in the battle for victory. Everyone else depends on them. If Alejandro and Marcus perform decently in the final round, they will leave little or no room for anyone else.
Del Rey hit only three fairways today. Two less than on Friday, when he hit five, and three less than on Thursday, when he hit as many as seven. This is not too surprising for this big hitter, whose main challenge is consistency, hitting straighter. What is more unusual is that today Álex did not record a single bogey on his card. It wouldn’t be the first time the Madrid native hit two or three fairways and managed to sign a low card, but in such circumstances, when it has happened, it is also normal for a few blemishes to appear on the card, and simply the birdies (and eagles) win the battle by overwhelming force… That was not the case. For three reasons.
The first. Because Del Rey‘s short game was very sharp today (and we include in this area those recovery putts of four, five, or six feet, for par and for birdie on some par 5s or short par 4s). On hole 2, to start with, he holed a little chip for birdie from the front of the green. Not too surprising: the Spaniard is a big hitter, but he has soft hands and is very skilled. Additionally, this week, compared to the previous one in Dubai, he has brought the putter under control.
The second. Because, let’s be honest, fortune smiled on Alejandro today. This was the case, for example, on holes 9, 10, 12, 14, and 18, where after missing the respective fairways rather grossly, he always found his ball playable, dry (on holes 12 and 18 he flirted with water), with a shot to the green and even well placed on the sand or rough. He himself acknowledged it right after signing the card. In short, the matter is significant: to what extent should such a circumstance overly influence his Sunday strategy? We all know from experience that timid or overly conservative leaders do not usually bring the ship safely to port, so the question, rather, will be to straighten the driver as best as possible… Easier said than done.
And the third. Because, even if one is lucky and finds their ball playable and even in a good position, one must then know how to hit those great shots from the desert sand, like those he hit on holes 9, 14, and especially on 17. On this hole, it is true, he didn’t have much distance to the green, but he hit a fabulous wedge from the sand and almost holed it for eagle (leaving the ball exactly two fingers from the cup).
The fact is that the Spaniard, who is playing his seventieth tournament on the DP World Tour (70), is once again within reach of his first victory on this circuit, the first big step towards glory. It is not the first time. So far, he has not been able to finish, but his time is coming.
The collective performance of the Spanish Armada has been deep and powerful. David Puig (-8) and Iván Cantero (-8) are backing up Del Rey after signing scores of 68 and 70 strokes, respectively. Their opportunity, as mentioned, is in the hands of the top two on the leaderboard, who are well ahead, but they certainly have the chance to fill up their confidence tank, as well as gather a lot of points. The same can be said for Manu Elvira (-7), who performed very well today playing alongside the defending champion, Thorbjorn Olesen (-5), whom he surpassed; as well as Joel Moscatel (-6) and Ángel Ayora (-4). The Catalan has put on the turbo (a round of 67 strokes) and even left some good opportunities on the course, just like the Andalusian, although both were also sharp around the greens of the Al Hamra Golf Club when it mattered (only one bogey on their cards).
