Justin Harding will take a two-shot lead into the final round of the 2022 Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic but he will have to hold off a host of Ryder Cup stars if he is to win a first Rolex Series title at Emirates Golf Club.
While many of those around him endured roller coaster rounds, the South African plotted his way to an impressive 71 to get to 12 under and lead the way from four-time Major Champion Rory McIlroy, who carded a 69 as he also looks for a first Rolex Series win and the chance to join Ernie Els as a three time winner of the Dallah trophy.
McIlroy’s Ryder Cup team-mate Tommy Fleetwood was then at nine under alongside South African Erik van Rooyen, a shot clear of three more members of Europe’s 2020 team in defending champion Paul Casey, Tyrrell Hatton and Bernd Wiesberger. England’s Richard Bland, Pole Adrian Meronk and Paraguayan Fabrizio Zanotti are also amongst the group on eight under par.
Pádraig Harrington, the European Captain at Whistling Straits, and another team member in Lee Westwood then completed a top 12 that has seven Major titles and ten Rolex Series wins between them.
Harding has plenty of wins of his own, however, with two victories on the DP World Tour to go with seven on the Sunshine Tour and two on the Asian Tour, with six of those victories coming in the last four years. He has also proven he can go low on a Sunday at Emirates Golf Club, carding a 63 en route to a top-ten finish in 2019.
McIlroy made just his fourth DP World Tour start at Emirates Golf Club as a 16-year-old amateur in 2006 – also following Tiger Woods round inside the ropes – and three years later lifted the trophy for his first professional victory and again in 2015.
Player Quotes
Justin Harding: “Yeah, I’m quite happy. I thought I played quite solid. It was a difficult day to be fair, and it some tough pins to get at. There were times when I didn’t quite put the ball in play, and I couldn’t really go anywhere near them. The one bogey made was from long range with the putter, a bit disappointing but would have loved to have snuck one coming in, 17 or 18, but I was happy with those.
“There are a few holes that you have need to get three on the front nine, a couple of strong par 4s and 15 and 16 are two that you need to get through on the back nine, and I didn’t take advantage of 17 or 18 today. But I’m quite happy with it, and yeah, go again tomorrow.
“It’s a pretty big field. Look, at the end of the day, I’ve just got to go out and keep doing what I’m doing, and make a couple birdies and shoot 70, 69, something like that, and make them shoot five or six under par, credit to them.”
Rory McIlroy: “I think it was a fair reflection how I played. Some good things in there and a couple bad things as well and I feel like it all evened out by the end, and it was nice to birdie the last and shoot something in the 60s and play myself into the final group tomorrow.
“It was a bit of a battling day. I think everyone felt the same thing. It’s tricky out there, a bit of breeze, firm greens, pins are tucked away, it’s almost better off to have a 50-footer on the green than hit a good shot and then it run-off the green and you’re chipping on to those firm greens, is tricky. So there’s a lot of tactics out there and just sort of A to B and trying to put yourself in the right spots. Overall, I thought anything in the 60s today was a good score.
“There’s a great atmosphere out there today. Hopefully another great atmosphere tomorrow. I mean, I’ve played in a lot of final groups here, so it’s nothing new to me at this point and I’m excited for it.
“It would be nice to get another win, especially here in Dubai. But it’s obviously nice to get a win anywhere early in the season. So, I’ve just got to go out there tomorrow and try to play a good round of golf and hopefully it’s good enough.”
Tommy Fleetwood: “Clearly the scoring was difficult. Felt like I played really, really well. Got off to a good start, hit a bunch of good golf shots in a row, gifted a few shots away in the middle of the round. I had eight-foot par on five and eight-foot for bogey. Frustrating that I couldn’t make head way on the holes where I was playing really well but stuck in there.
“Felt like 12 was actually a really important par for me and managed to birdie 13 and coming in on holes that were quite demanding, did a really good job of hitting good golf shots and giving myself good chances as well. Getting up-and-down on 18, you feel like you’ve clawed a shot back.
“When you are trying to get back to the top of the game, you want to compete in the biggest tournaments again, and when you’re moving in the right direction, it’s hard to stay patient when it’s not happening. I was pleased how I reacted on 11.
“Things you find easy when you’re playing well and when the game is going your way; when it’s not, you feel like you’re clawing your way back, it’s not as easy. I just think things that come so naturally you have to be a bit more aware of.
“Like I said, I was really pleased how I did that today. Looking on today, I’m so excited about playing tomorrow and getting the juices flowing on a Sunday and seeing how my game goes. I would love to be competing down that back stretch and who knows, might be my week, might not be but excited where my game is heading. You’re always looking for affirmations to say that what you’re doing is right, and don’t sort of miss them as they come along, and I think today showing that.”
Erik van Rooyen: I didn’t get off to a great start I guess. The whole day, really, I wasn’t hitting it great, and I guess you just really want to hang in to have a chance for tomorrow and I did a great job. But four specifically, I pulled a nine iron like 20 yards left, really poor shot in about the worst space you can be, and I really wasn’t thinking I was going to walk off with three on that hole.
“I think in a setup like this, if you can just hang in with nine holes to go, 17, anything can happen, 18, anything can happen, there’s three par fives on the back and make sure you’re in the mix with nine to go and you’re right in it.”
