Paul Waring noticed his snug in a single day lead lower to a single shot heading into the ultimate spherical of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
The Englishman began the day 5 clear, however a one-over 73 left the door ajar for the chasing pack.
Waring’s 18-under-par complete leaves him one away from Niklas Nørgaard, with Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, Thorbjørn Olesen and Sebastian Söderberg tied for third on 15 underneath.
Waring discovered a bunker together with his opening tee shot and needed to scramble par from eight toes on the first, however regarded to have settled down as he birdied the par-five second and hit his tee shot to eight toes on the quick fourth.
Nevertheless, he ran his birdie try 5 toes previous and missed the return, earlier than lacking birdie putts on the subsequent 9 holes. Discovering sand off the tee on the 14th proved expensive as he failed to avoid wasting par from 15 toes.
Waring had produced the shot of his life with a fairway wooden to inside 4 toes on the final on Friday, however 24 hours later ended up in a greenside bunker and needed to accept a fifteenth par of the day.
FASTER GREENS
Waring, whose final victory got here on the Nordea Masters in 2018, stated: “I’m a little bit bit dissatisfied, as I felt like may I’ve actually moved ahead right this moment and put myself out of sight, however you’re all the time going to an iffy run of holes over 4 rounds, and hopefully I’ve bought mine out of the best way right this moment.
“For those who’d given me a one-shot lead going into the ultimate spherical at the start of the week I’d have snatched your hand off, so I’m attempting to stay optimistic. I’m nonetheless within the lead, and I’m wanting ahead to getting on the market tomorrow.”
the place he got here unstuck right this moment, he added: “I assumed the greens have been 18 inches faster right this moment and so they have been simply breaking a bit greater than what I used to be studying the primary few days – a bit dryer, a bit firmer, and I simply struggled on them a little bit bit right this moment.”
“I really feel like my unhealthy golf is out of the best way now and I can kind of try to free wheel as a lot as I can tomorrow and see the place all of us lie on the finish of the day .
BEST OF THE REST
Nørgaard dropped his first shot of the week on the ninth in his spherical of 69, and admitted that he now feels at residence in occasions of this stature as he chases his second DP World Tour title and first on the Rolex Sequence.
It was a blended bag for Fleetwood, who recorded 4 birdies and three bogeys in his spherical of 71, as he goals to take a 3rd Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship title following his victories in 2017 and 2018.
Lowry bought off to a quick begin with an eagle on the second and was was six underneath on the flip earlier than recording seven consecutive pars and ending bogey, birdie to signal for a 66.
Rory McIlroy’s hopes of victory took an enormous dive when he double-bogeyed the par-five final to file a three-under 69 and sit within the pack on -13.
In the meantime Thomas Detry recorded the low spherical of the day, opening with six birdies in a row and including 4 extra after the flip in his spherical of 62, one in need of Waring’s course file on Friday.
