Patrick Reed produced one of just two bogey-free rounds on moving day to take a two-shot lead into the final round of the Qatar Masters in blustery Doha.
While he was disappointed to three-putt the 18th for a par-five from around 100 feet, the Texan’s two-under 70 put him in position to win for the second time in three weeks and jump to the top of the Race to Dubai.
“I felt like I hit the ball better today than I did the last two days – well, really compared to yesterday, and shot two shots worse, so it’s an interesting game,” said Reed, who mixed 16 pars with birdies at the second and 10th.
“The golf game feels good, it feels solid, it feels steady and really just got to go out there and keep the foot on the gas tomorrow, get off to hopefully a faster start than today, and see where it goes.”
The former LIV Golf star (35) leads on 14 under par from Denmark’s Jacob Skov Olesen, who turned in one-over before playing the back nine in a blistering five-under 31 to shoot 68 and sit alone in second place.
Spain’s Angel Ayora shot 70 and New Zealander Daniel Hillier at 71 to share third, three shots off the pace on 11-under as Sweden’s Joakim Lagergren slipped from second overnight to joint fifth, four shots behind Reed, after a 73.
Reed won the Hero Dubai Desert Classic two weeks ago and was only beaten in a play-off at last week's Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship.
While he felt he might have gone lower, he’s hoping to make hay on the par-fives on Sunday after playing them in just one under in the third round.
“It’s one of those days you’ve got to take advantage of the par-fives, I didn’t really do that very well today,’ Reed said.
“A three-putt on the last obviously stings, but to go round this place bogey-free, especially with how the wind was, it’s obviously successful.
“Hopefully we can continue to do that tomorrow, continue hitting the ball solid and giving ourselves a lot of birdie looks, and hopefully make a couple more than just two tomorrow.”
Pádraig Harrington (54) broke par for the third day running, carding a one-under 71 to share 34th on four under in his 500th DP World Tour start.
It’s just the 38th career start for Danish left-hander Olesen, who birdied three of his last four holes to move into contention for his maiden DP World Tour win.
"It was a grind on the front nine, couldn't really get anything going, didn't hit any good shots at all either,” the Dane said.
“I hit a good wedge in on ten after a poor drive. It's not really the pin position where you want to be stuck with a wedge out of the first cut, but hit a good one in there and rolled one in.
“That got me back to level, and I kind of knew it wasn't playing that easy, so I knew I wasn't in a terrible spot, just needed to get something going.”
On the HotelPlanner Tour, Gary Hurley (33) goes into the final round of the CIRCA Cape Town Open chasing his first top-10 finish for 17 months.
The West Waterford man, who missed last season due to a career-threatening shoulder injury, carded a two-under 70 at Royal Cape to share 11th place on eight-under par with a round to play.
He’s eight strokes behind South Africa’s Trevor Fisher Jnr, who shot a bogey-free 67 to lead by a shot on 16 under from Spain’s Santiago Tarrio, who shot a joint best of the day 65.
Galway’s Liam Nolan lies joint 29th on six under after a 70 that saw him birdie four of his first seven holes, bogey four of the next eight before finishing with two birdies.
Portmarnock’s Conor Purcell shot 74 to share 48th on three-under.
Article Link: Reed two clear in Doha as Hurley eyes top 10 finish in Cape Town - News - Irish Golf Desk