– Each day of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship is somewhat like an instalment of Fast and Furious, the legendary film saga. You have to run from the moment you tee off at the 1st and furiously start making birdies, eagles, and perhaps even an albatross, knowing that at the Yas Links Golf Club, a round of sixty-nine strokes will inevitably cause you to lose positions (at the top of the leaderboard, even a 67 can set you back).
– Aaron Rai (-20) barely held onto the lead this Saturday with a round of 66 strokes, which is not bad at all, but it doesn’t make much of a difference. Tommy Fleetwood (-19), with a timely final push with birdies on holes 16 and 18, Nicolai Hojgaard (-19), who was seven under after eleven holes and finished that way, and Nacho Elvira (-18), with a five-under on the back nine, the best of the day in this section of the course (only matched by Ángel Ayora), are the other clear candidates for victory. However, this week, on this course and with these conditions, it would be bold to rule out someone coming on Sunday and signing a 62, or even a 61 like Paul Waring’s last year in the second round, scores that have not yet been achieved and could still be seen in the final round, why not.
– It seems, however, that even a 62 wouldn’t be enough for Rory McIlroy (-14), which would take him to -24. Yesterday we tried to put ourselves in the Northern Irishman’s shoes and the calculations he might be making after finishing the second round: “if I go fourteen under over the weekend, I might still give myself a chance to win,” we said. And we fell short. Those calculations would take Rory to -22, and that certainly won’t be a winning score.
– Tyrrell Hatton (-14) demonstrated today just how Fast and Furious you can go in Abu Dhabi: eagle on the 1st hole, holing out from 45 metres; another eagle on the 2nd, after leaving the ball less than a metre from the hole with the second shot; birdie on the 3rd and another birdie on the 4th, sinking putts from about three metres, for a devastating six-under through the first four holes. Let’s see: this doesn’t seem very normal either, it’s more of a wonderful madness, but it gives us clues. The Englishman, on the other hand, finished with a bogey on the 18th and handed in a good card of 64 strokes, but well below the expectations created after such a start.
– Alejandro del Rey (-15) is currently in the Dubai Final, but he will likely need more than today’s 68 to complete the comeback in the rankings. It’s stressful, admittedly, but it has its exciting point: after all, everyone is in the same boat.
– Last year, two cards of 63 strokes were signed on Sunday (Rozner and Wallace). A beautiful target for guys like Eugenio Chacarra (-8) or Ángel Ayora (-11) in their fight for the PGA Tour card, which now seems more complicated than three days ago.
– And speaking of PGA Tour cards: Nacho Elvira wasn’t expected in that window, but it goes without saying that a win tomorrow would change everything. And the Cantabrian has already shown us enough that he doesn’t mind being in the final groups with a chance of victory.
