Sergio Garcia opened up a three stroke lead over Open Champion Henrik Stenson in near darkness at the end of day three of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.
The Spaniard birdied the 18th hole to sign for a round of 68 and go into the final round at 16 under par, three shots ahead of his Ryder Cup team mate Stenson.
Garcia was amongst 21 groups of players who had to complete round two this morning after high winds halted play on Friday, and he was determined to finish his round after a 1.50 pm start at the Emirates Golf Club. With a two tee start, just one group failed to finish and will return to complete round three on Sunday morning.
The overnight leader bogeyed the first but immediately followed up with a birdie. An impressive back nine, including five birdies and just one dropped shot, completed a round of four under.
Sweden’s Stenson gradually moved up the leaderboard throughout the day, signing for a round of 67 to finish the day in second place. It was the same score for Ian Poulter who sits in tied third place at 11 under par alongside Prom Meesawat, while Peter Uihlein and George Coetzee are one shot further back.
Sergio Garcia: “It was a nice round. Obviously it wasn’t easy, a little shaky here and there at the beginning. But back nine was great. A lot of good shots, a lot of good putts. You know, overall, I’m happy with my round. I have a chance of winning the OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic, which is a great tournament, a great event. I’m going to give it my all tomorrow.
“At the end it was very, very dark, I’ll tell you that. I didn’t think — when we were walking on 17, I thought, well, it will probably be a little dark but not too bad. But then it gets dark very, very quickly here. Couldn’t really see much on the last three shots. Pretty much couldn’t see the ball land and the last putt was a little bit of a feel and a little bit of the read that George gave me, and I’m very fortunate to be able to make it.”
Henrik Stenson: “I’m pleased with that. It was a good back nine. Happy to get the round finished. We had to rush a little bit here to get on 18 and hit it on the green in two, which is nice. Then we just tried to get that down in two. It’s hard with the pace in the dark, and hit it about four and a half feet by, so I had a little tester coming back. But a nice putt and closed out the day nicely.
“It’s great to be in the last match tomorrow. I’m three behind Sergio so that’s where I want to be to try and apply some pressure on the front nine. Anytime you can be within a couple shots heading into the back nine, you can make it happen. I’m very pleased with the day’s work.”
Ian Poulter: “I made a couple great par saves during the round and gave myself a lot of good chances. I needed to shoot a decent round today, because obviously Sergio and the guys in front were a few shots clear. I’ve done my job today, so I’m very pleased.
“My putting’s really good. I had a stretch of single putts from the back end of round two to the first couple of holes today. I was nine one putts in a row, so to do that, you have to be comfortable with your line doing that. I’m quietly confident. I wouldn’t say I feel like I’m on my A Game, but I’m doing my job, and that’s all I can do right now is slowly but surely try to get in contention and see what happens tomorrow.”
