Abu Dhabi, Jan 18: Shubhankar Sharma holed more birdies than either of the first two days, but also dropped four shots in an eventful third round as he posted his first-ever score in the 60s at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship. After 71-70 on the first two days, he returned three-under 69 to get to six-under for the tournament.
“One shot improvement each day,” said Sharma with a smile and is now lying Tied-37thas against T-35 overnight.
There was a time when the leaderboard had eight players sharing the lead and over 40 players within three of the lead.
The veteran 46-yeear-old Lee Westwood then delivered a five-under 31 on the front side of the course. It included an eagle from inside five feet on the Par-5 eighth after a superb second shot.Leader by three at one stage, Westwood finished with three birdies against one bogey on the back nine for a day’s work of seven-under 65 that carried him to the top at 14-under.
Westwood ultimately finished one ahead of Austrian Bernd Wiesberger (65) and the overnight leader Italian Francesco Laporta (69).
Sharma said, “There were a lot of birdies, which was good, but there were also some stupid bogeys including a three-putt on 14th. So, it was a mixed bag, but still overall okay.”
He added, “I am pretty content as three-under is a good score. At the start I did not find too many fairways, but found the rhythm on the back nine, but still I feel I left a few shots out there. Yet, it is possible to shoot a low number on this course as some players have shown, so one more day to go.”
Leader Westwood was pleased with his round and when asked what he needed to do on Sunday for his 25thcareer win, he said, “One better than everybody else. I can’t tell the future. I’m just going to go out there and play as well as I can, and if it’s good enough, then great. I know I’m talented enough to win the tournament. It’s just a case of applying myself.
Matt Fitzpatrick (69) was fourth at 12-under. American Kurt Kitayama, who in a five-week period in 2019, finished in Top-4 three times in Italy, France and Turkey, shot 68 in the third round tot tie for fifth with Sergio Garcia (67) at 11-under.
Wiesberger showed that his excellent form of 2019 was still continuing as he matched Westwood’s 65 and was placed Tied-second on shot behind alongside overnight leader, Italian Francesco Laporta, who once again rode a fine finish. After five birdies in last five holes in the third round, Laporta, the Challenge Tour No. 1, had a birdie-birdie finish for his 69.
The morning belonged to German Sebastian Heisele(64) as he moved from the cut line at one-under to the very top for a brief while before others overtook him. He was eventually T-9 by the end of the day.
Earlier in the morning, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, who made the cut on the line despite a quadruple bogey ‘9’ on Par-5 second on second day, shot 65 on the third day to zoom up to T-14 at eight-under.
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