Paul Waring noticed his snug in a single day lead reduce 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 whole leaves him one away from Niklas Nørgaard, with Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, Thorbjørn Olesen and Sebastian Söderberg tied for third on 15 below.
Waring discovered a bunker along with his opening tee shot and needed to scramble par from eight ft on the first, however appeared to have settled down as he birdied the par-five second and hit his tee shot to eight ft on the brief fourth.
Nevertheless, he ran his birdie try 5 ft previous and missed the return, earlier than lacking birdie putts on the subsequent 9 holes. Discovering sand off the tee on the 14th proved pricey as he failed to avoid wasting par from 15 ft.
Waring had produced the shot of his life with a fairway wooden to inside 4 ft 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 bit bit upset, as I felt like might I’ve actually moved ahead as we speak and put myself out of sight, however you’re at all times going to an iffy run of holes over 4 rounds, and hopefully I’ve received mine out of the best way as we speak.
“If you happen to’d given me a one-shot lead going into the ultimate spherical in the beginning of the week I’d have snatched your hand off, so I’m making an attempt to stay optimistic. I’m nonetheless within the lead, and I’m trying ahead to getting on the market tomorrow.”
Taking a look at the place he got here unstuck as we speak, he added: “I believed the greens have been 18 inches faster as we speak 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 bit bit as we speak.”
“I really feel like my unhealthy golf is out of the best way now and I can type of attempt 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 dwelling in occasions of this stature as he chases his second DP World Tour title and first on the Rolex Sequence.
It was a combined 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 received off to a quick begin with an eagle on the second and was was six below 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 a giant dive when he double-bogeyed the par-five final to report 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 report on Friday.
