Padraig Harrington closed with a birdie on the 18th to ensure the Dubliner holds a one shot overnight lead going into the final day of the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship.
The world number nine started the third round one behind playing partner and overnight leader Phillip Price and it took until the final hole before he snatched the outright lead with a four-under-par 68 for a 13 under aggregate.
Welshman Price had made a nervy start as he carded bogeys on the first and third and two more on the 14th and 16th meant he dropped down the leaderboard. But a birdie on the 18th ensured he remains in contention on 11-under.
Swede Peter Hanson carded the best round of the day with a six-under-par 66 and joins Miguel Angel Jimenez and Shiv Kapur in a tie for second on 12 under.
Paul Casey enjoyed his best round of the tournament so far to
put himself back
in contention. The Englishman didn't drop a shot in carding
five birdies for a five-under-par 67 and is three shots off the
lead.
Retief Goosen made up for a disappointing display yesteriday to join Casey on 10 under after carding six birdies and two bogeys in his 68.
Defending champion Chris DiMarco enjoyed his best display yet to move onto a nine-under-par 207 overall.
The 38-year-old American had made an indifferent start after his first nine holes, carding a birdie on the ninth and making par on the rest, but three birdies on the back nine ensured he shot 68 to remain in touch with the leading pack.
Gary Murphy made good progress after today's 68 moved the Kilkennyman into the top 15 on eight under. Damien McGrane's 71 left the Meath pro on five under while Graeme McDowell (69) was a shot further back.
Collated third-round scores (Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):
203 Padraig Harrington 68 67 68
204Peter Hanson (Swe) 70 68 66, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 71 65 68, Shiv Kapur 70 66 68
205Phillip Price 69 65 71
206Jean Francois Lucquin (Fra) 70 69 67, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 68 71 67, Paul Casey 71 68 67, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 66 72 68, Alastair Forsyth 71 66 69
207Chris DiMarco (USA) 69 70 68, James Hepworth 68 71 68, Graeme Storm 68 70 69, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 70 66 71
208 Gary Murphy 72 68 68, Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 70 69 69, Richard Green (Aus) 67 72 69, Paul Lawrie 67 72 69, Nick Dougherty 66 72 70, Gary Orr 70 68 70, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 66 72 70, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 70 67 71, Garry Houston 70 67 71
209Anthony Wall 68 75 66, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 70 71 68, Colin Montgomerie 69 71 69, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 68 72 69, Julien Guerrier (X) (Fra) 68 72 69, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 73 67 69, James Kingston (Rsa) 71 68 70, Phillip Archer 63 75 71
210Marcel Siem (Ger) 71 72 67, David Carter 71 68 71
211Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 70 73 68, Soren Hansen (Den) 73 69 69, Damien McGrane 72 68 71, Stephen Dodd 69 70 72, Gary Emerson 67 70 74, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 68 68 75
212Ian Garbutt 69 74 69, Graeme McDowell (NIrl) 71 72 69, Mark Pilkington 73 70 69, Steve Webster 70 73 69, Andrew McLardy 70 72 70, Juan Parron (Spa), 71 71 70, Yasin Ali 71 70 71, Robert Rock 69 72 71, Maarten Lefeber (Ned) 71 70 71, Christian Cevaer (Fra) 73 68 71, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 71 69 72, Brett Rumford 68 72 72, Oliver Fisher 68 71 73
213Alejandro Canizares (Spa)75 68 70, Kyron Sullivan 72 71 70, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 71 71 71, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 71 69 73
214Stephen Gallacher 70 73 71, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 75 68 71, David Park 73 70 71, Terry Price (Aus) 74 69 71, Benn Barham 75 67 72, John Bickerton 74 68 72, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 69 71 74
215Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 70 73 72 , Markus Brier (Aut) 73 69 73, Oliver Wilson 70 72 73, Chinarat Phadungsil (Tha) 71 71 73, Alvaro Quiros (Spa),
216Miles Tunnicliff 72 71 73, Andrew Marshall 73 70 73, Ariel Canete (Arg) 68 74 74,
217Notah Begay III (USA) 72 71 74, Kenneth Ferrie 74 68 75, Matthew Millar (Aus) 73 69 75, Lee Slattery 71 70 76
