Scott Jamieson retained a one-shot lead going into the final round of the HSBC Championship in Abu Dhabi after a four-under-par 68 on Saturday ahead of Shane Lowry and Thomas Pieters.
Scotland’s Jamieson struck five birdies, including one on the final hole, to finish on an 11-under-par total.
Offaly man Lowry and Belgium’s Pieters, who matched each other with bogey-free rounds of five-under 67, piled the pressure on Jamieson but the Scot showed great composure in his fight for a second title on the European Tour.
“After yesterday, certainly the whole day seems a little more straightforward but it still wasn’t easy,” said Jamieson, who won his first title in 2013.
“The greens were considerably quicker and there was still a decent amount of breeze.
“It would be massive, a game-changer, to win a tournament of this stature. There’s definitely been some great champions here, and that’s an awful long way to go.”
India’s Shubhankar Sharma and Norway’s Viktor Hovland sat in a share of fourth place on eight-under, while Spain’s Rafa Cabrera Bello was a shot further back alongside Englishmen James Morrison and Ian Poulter.
Padraig Harrington sits six shots behind Lowry having carded a round of 68, while four-time major winner Rory McIlroy signed for a five-under 67 to reach two-under for the tournament. World number two Collin Morikawa sits on two-over after a third-round 71.
Abu Dhabi Collated Collated third round scores & totals in the DP World Tour Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, Yas Links, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
(Gbr & Irl unless stated, Par 72):
205 Scott Jamieson 63 74 68
206 Shane Lowry 67 72 67, Thomas Pieters (Bel) 65 74 67
208 Viktor Hovland (Nor) 64 74 70, Shubhankar Sharma (Ind) 70 71 67
209 Ian Poulter 66 72 71, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 69 71 69, James Morrison 66 71 72
210 Adam Scott (Aus) 70 72 68, Andrea Pavan (Ita) 69 72 69
211 Justin Harding (Rsa) 69 72 70, Jeff Winther (Den) 71 69 71, Alexander Bjoerk (Swe) 68 71 72, Victor Dubuisson (Fra) 70 72 69, Robert Rock 68 75 68, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 67 76 68
212 Kristoffer Broberg (Swe) 69 74 69, Padraig Harrington 73 71 68, Adrian Meronk (Pol) 69 73 70, Sam Horsfield 74 70 68, Romain Langasque (Fra) 72 73 67
213 Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 69 77 67, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 70 71 72, Victor Perez (Fra) 66 74 73, Erik van Rooyen (Rsa) 69 71 73, Daniel Gavins 69 74 70, Jamie Donaldson 74 69 70
214 Rory McIlroy 72 75 67, Tyrrell Hatton 66 77 71, Takumi Kanaya (Jpn) 66 73 75, Mikko Korhonen (Fin) 69 77 68, Jordan Smith 71 72 71, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 73 72 69, Matthew Southgate 70 73 71, Dale Whitnell 68 74 72, Soeren Kjeldsen (Den) 70 74 70
215 Lee Westwood 71 74 70, Rasmus Hoejgaard (Den) 70 72 73, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 70 72 73, Thomas Detry (Bel) 67 76 72, Richie Ramsay 71 76 68, Ricardo Gouveia (Por) 73 72 70, Julien Brun (Fra) 69 69 77
216 Dean Burmester (Rsa) 71 75 70, Ashun Wu (Chn) 69 77 70, Joachim B. Hansen (Den) 70 77 69, Josh Hill 71 76 69, Ryan Fox (Nzl) 72 74 70, David Law 69 75 72, Justin Walters (Rsa) 74 71 71, Marcus Helligkilde (Den) 69 75 72
217 Jorge Campillo (Spa) 74 72 71, Fabrizio Zanotti (Pry) 71 76 70
218 Collin Morikawa (USA) 73 74 71, Tommy Fleetwood 68 76 74, Ignacio Elvira (Spa) 69 74 75, Daniel van Tonder (Rsa) 71 75 72, Matthew Jordan 70 74 74, David Horsey 70 75 73, Callum Shinkwin 71 75 72, Jack Singh-Brar 70 76 72, Ewen Ferguson 71 74 73
219 Min-Woo Lee (Aus) 71 76 72, Thorbjoern Olesen (Den) 71 74 74, Adria Arnaus (Spa) 71 76 72, Matt Wallace 72 75 72, Daan Huizing (Ned) 71 76 72
220 Brandon Stone (Rsa) 74 72 74, Sami Valimaki (Fin) 69 75 76, Marcus Kinhult (Swe) 68 78 74, Santiago Tarrio (Spa) 70 75 75
221 Maximilian Kieffer (Ger) 75 72 74, Connor Syme 70 77 74
222 Henrik Stenson (Swe) 72 75 75, Masahiro Kawamura (Jpn) 71 76 75
224 Chris Paisley 73 74 77
