Paul Waring’s Lead Reduced to One Shot in Abu Dhabi

Paul Waring previously secured his sole European Tour victory at the Nordea Masters in 2018. The third-round leaderboard for the Abu Dhabi Championship showed: -18 P Waring (Eng); -17 N Norgaard (Den); -15 S Lowry (Ire), T Fleetwood (Eng), T Olesen (Den), S Soderberg (Swe); -14 R Macintyre (Sco), T Detry (Bel), N Hoegaard (Den), U Coussaud (Fra), T Hatton (Eng), F Laporta (Ita). Selected other scores included: -13 R McIlroy (NI), A Sullivan (Eng), M Jordan (Eng); -12 R Mansell (Eng), A Fitzpatrick (Eng), M Wallace (Eng), J Niemann (Chi); -11 T McKibbin (NI). A full leaderboard was also available. England’s Paul Waring saw his five-shot overnight advantage reduced to a single stroke heading into the final round of the Abu Dhabi Championship. Waring, who achieved a course-record 61 during the second round, recorded a one-over-par 73 in the third round at Yas Links. Waring stands at 18 under par for the tournament, holding a one-shot lead over his Danish playing partner Niklas Norgaard, who posted a 69. England’s Tommy Fleetwood and Ireland’s Shane Lowry are part of a four-way tie for third position, trailing Waring by three strokes. Race to Dubai leader Rory McIlroy appeared poised to join this group at 15 under until he incurred a double-bogey on the final hole. Waring, whose third round began with a birdie on the second hole but included bogeys on the fourth and 14th, stated to Sky Sports: “I could have really moved forward today and put myself out of sight, but in four rounds of golf you are always going to have an iffy round.” He added, “If at the beginning of the week you had given me a one-shot lead going into the final day, I would have snapped your hand off.” Tommy Fleetwood, a two-time winner of the Abu Dhabi event, positioned himself as a contender by scoring a 71, despite encountering difficulties with his putter. Sweden’s Sebastian Soderberg and Denmark’s Thorbjoern Olesen are also tied at 15 under par. Meanwhile, Lowry’s round of 66 included an eagle on the par-five second hole, followed by five birdies. Belgian Thomas Detry achieved a bogey-free round of 62, finishing 10 under par, placing him among a group of six players at 14 under, which also features Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre and England’s Tyrrell Hatton. Northern Ireland’s McIlroy, who began the day nine strokes behind the leader, narrowed the deficit to three shots before dropping back with a score of seven on the final hole. His round of 69 resulted in him being 13 under par. McIlroy will secure his sixth Race to Dubai title if he concludes the Abu Dhabi tournament in the top two positions, ahead of the European Tour season finale scheduled for Dubai next week. “I sort of dug myself a bit of a hole to get out of, but I can still go into tomorrow feeling like I have half a chance,” McIlroy commented. He further added, “I bogeyed the first today and doubled the last, but in between that I played some really good golf. I just need to keep the big mistakes and big numbers off my card.”