Paul Waring saw his comfortable overnight lead become one shot heading into the final round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
The Englishman started the day fifth clear, but the over-73 left the door open for a chasing pack.
Waring’s total of 18 under leaves him well clear of Niklas Nørgaard, with Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, Thorbjørn Olesen and Sebastian Söderberg tied for third on 15 under.
Waring found the bottom with his opening shot and had to climb from eight feet at first, but he seemed to have settled down as he drove the 5th and hit his eight-foot putt on the short par four.
However, he ran his birdie attempt by five feet and missed the return, before missing birdie putts on the next nine holes. Finding sand off the tee on 14 proved costly as he failed to save from 15 feet.
Waring produced the picture of his life with a fairway wood to within four feet at the last time on Friday, but 24 hours later he ended up in the basement of the greenside and had to settle for the 15th for the day.
VERY GREEN
Waring, who last won the Nordea Masters in 2018, said: “I’m a bit disappointed, as I feel like I could have gone ahead today and put myself out there, but you’re always going to have an iffy run of holes in the four rounds, and hopefully I got out of my own way today.
“If you had given me one shot to go to the final round at the beginning of the week I would have taken it, so I’m trying to stay positive. I’m still in the lead, and I’m looking forward to getting out there tomorrow.”
Looking at where he came from today, he added: “I thought the greens were faster at 18 inches today and they just broke a little bit more than I’ve been learning the first couple of days – a little bit drier, a little bit stiffer, and I just struggled with them a little bit today.”
“I feel like my bad golf is out of the way now and I can try again and hit as free a wheel as I can tomorrow and see where we all lie at the end of the day.
GOOD FOR ONE
Nørgaard dropped his first shot of the week in ninth place in his round of 69, and admitted he now feels at home in events of this nature as he chases his second DP World Tour title and first in the Rolex Series.
It was a mixed bag for Fleetwood, who recorded four birdies and three bogeys in his round of 71, as he aims to claim a third Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship title following his victories in 2017 and 2018.
Lowry got off to a quick start with an eagle at the second and was six under before recording seven straight pars and finishing with a bogey, birdie for a 66.
Rory McIlroy’s victory hopes took a deep dive when he doubled the par-five finish to record a three-under 69 and stay in the pack at -13.
Meanwhile Thomas Detry recorded the lowest round of the day, opening with six birdies in a row and adding four after the turn in his round of 62, one short of Waring’s course record on Friday.
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