Test delicately poised after second day
Boult shines with four-wicket haul to deny Pakistan the edge
Danny Willett says he’s beginning to see light between the trees after a third round of 68 left him tied for first with Patrick Reed at 14- under heading into the final day of the DP World Tour Championship yesterday.
The 31-year-old Englishman hasn’t won since the Masters in 2016, with a back injury crushing hopes of extending upon that first Major.
Now, however, he stands on the cusp of ending his barren run at the European Tour’s season-ending event at Jumeirah Golf Estates on Sunday.
“It was a very dark, dark place where I was, very dark,” he joked after hitting five birdies and a bogey to add to earlier rounds of identical 67s on Saturday. “There was no light through the trees where I was, there was a big stump right in front of my ball.
“There was a time when I really despised pitching up because it just felt like Groundhog Day. I was working really hard but not getting anything right, missed cut, do it all again, week-in, week-out, you pull out of a couple.
“It was a tough old spell. I was pretty low and open to trying anything,” he said, before working with coach Sean Foley from the start of the year. From that day forward, we’ve been on a really good path of going forward and getting my body in good shape, more than anything to elongate a career that would have been disappointing to stop after five years because you were injured.
“There wasn’t really a golfing goal this year. We’ve still got exemptions coming out of our eyeballs, so it’s not about that, it was about enjoying golf again.
“Now it’s very pleasing and satisfying to get up and do everything we are doing and it’s always nice to see results. I can see what is potentially around the corner, I don’t know if it can happen, but I can see that it’s there if and when things go your way, which always has to happen ■ at a golf tournament.
“To win a golf tournament, yes you’ve got to play well, but no one’s ever played well and just ball struck their way around off their own back and won, a lot of things have got to go your way.”
Difficult to retain
Willett will be up against Reed, who still has a chance to finish second in the Race to Dubai. That’s after Tommy Fleetwood faltered in his bid to challenge Francesco Molinari for the Race to Dubai title with a third round of 74 leaving him tied for 24th at six under.
Fleetwood needed to win the tournament while hoping Molinari dropped to below fifth to overtake the Italian, but after this round it looks like Molinari doesn’t have much to worry about.
“You kind of know when your time is up,” said Fleetwood, who won the Race to Dubai last year but now admits he can’t retain. “I lasted within two days of the season. Like I’ve said it was a stretch trying to win it, but it is what it is. I’ll play tomorrow and we’ll see how we do, but it’s fine.
“At the end of the day, it’s just golf, but it does hurt when you have days like that.”
Molinari is a stroke behind Fleetwood, tied for 28th at five-under, after shooting a third round of 70. ■
New Zealand made a horror start to their second innings at the Shaikh Zayed Stadium yesterday, with Hassan Ali sending Tom Latham’s off stumps cartwheeling, but skipper Kane Williamson and Jeet Raval stood firm to end Day Two of the first Test at 56 for one in 22.4 overs.
Williamson was on an unbeaten 27 and Raval on 26, when umpires stopped play due to bad light with 4.2 overs remaining in day’s play. New Zealand trail Pakistan’s first innings total by 18 runs with the contest poised for an intriguing third day.
“We did some hard work today. We finished off the day quite well, I felt. It’s evenly placed but need to do some good batting and see what kind of position we can get at the end of the day tomorrow. I don’t think we have thought about it (target) too much just yet,” said New Zealand left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel, who finished with two wickets on debut.
“It’s quite special taking the first Test wicket. At that time, I think I was still kind of didn’t know the whole situation, kind of still amazed at that achievement. That one wicket was something that you have worked a whole lot. It was quite a special moment,” added Patel.
‘We will have to come out early’
Earlier, New Zealand, led by their strike bowler Trent Boult who finished with an impressive four for 54 in 18.2 overs, did not allow Pakistan to get to a first innings total they would have ideally liked.
Riding on a 62 by Babar Azam, the hosts posted 227 in 83.2 overs to take a first innings lead of 74 runs. “I was asking the tail not to hurry when I was playing with them but unfortunately they got out. I thought I could reach the three figure mark had there been support from other end,” said Babar.
“We will have to come out and get wickets early in the first session tomorrow. We have to look to get them out for as less total as possible. The lesser the total the better,” Babar said.