Macintyre not he attempts to
Paul Casey produced a stunning birdie-eagle finish in a bogey free round of 64 to take a one shot lead into the final day of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.
The Englishman will go in search of his 15th European Tour title after matching the lowest round of the week to get to 15-under-par and lead by one from Scotland’s Robert Macintyre. The 24 year old is aiming to win in consecutive seasons after claiming his maiden victory at the 2020 Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Open, and a strong finish at Emirates Golf Club could propel him into the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in his career.
Three-time European Tour winner Brandon Stone of South Africa is a shot further back on 13-under-par, with Major winner and 2017 Omega Dubai Desert Classic champion Sergio Garcia at 10-under-par alongside Englishman Laurie Canter.
Finland’s Kalle Samooja is then at nine under, with Major winner and Olympic Gold Medallist Justin Rose, South African Justin Harding and Thomas Detry of Belgium rounding out the top 10 on Pink Saturday, as players, caddies, officials, staff and volunteers donned pink to raise awareness for breast cancer research in association with the Al Jalila Foundation.
Scot Macintyre was delighted with his performance as he remained patient in the testing conditions.
He said: “I played great golf. Again, I controlled my golf ball I think as good as I have all week. The wind was up more today. I was patient, and committed to every shot.
“That’s something I struggled with last year. But this year, it’s been drilled into me by many people – accept what comes. Just control what you can control. And it’s working well.
“It’s as high as it’s ever been. I’m driving it great.
“Three wood, five wood, new clubs in the bag, they have been absolutely brilliant.
“And I’m striking it. I really am striking my irons as well as I struck it late last year.”
Macintyre stressed he won’t be hanging back as he goes in search of victory.
He added: “I’m looking forward to tomorrow and see what it brings. I’m not going to hang about. I’m going to put it all on the line whether it’s good or bad.
“But tomorrow, hopefully it’s going to be good and I’ve just got to enjoy it again. It’s another experience that I want to get.
“It’s something that not many people get the chance at my age to do, and I’ll give it everything I’ve got. It would be unbelievable. I’ve still a long way to go, 18 holes. I’m just focused on the tee shot off the first tomorrow.”
Casey, meanwhile, was thrilled with his eagle at the last which put him top of the leaderboard.
He said:: “It was perfect club. It always helps when you have a nice number in there. It’s a glorious finish. To have a perfect three iron in there and finish off with an eagle is pretty cool.
“I mean, you can never say flawless, can you, because there’s always errors but it was very controlled. It was a really enjoyable round of golf, challenging at the same time with a little bit of wind here and there.”
The Englishman reckons he can drive his way to success today.
He added: “I’m enjoying my golf, and that was an example of it today.
“I’ve been very fortunate. The strong asset I have in this game is the way I drive it, the length. The game has gone more and more towards length, and I’m fortunate that I’m still able to lean on that strength and compete out here.
“Fifteen (European Tour wins) would be very cool, as well.
“I’ve won just down the road. I’ve never won in Dubai – it’s iconic. Behind you, I can see the very impressive list of winners, those photos of them behind the 18th green. Dubai has given so much to golf, especially the European Tour, so that would be very, very cool.”
Stone thanked his putter for playing its part in keeping him contention.
He said: “I managed to hole some nice putts on the front nine, which always gets the adrenaline and momentum going.
“The list of illustrious winners that has won here before is obviously incredible, but at the same time the golf course has its own history and the event itself has that prestige around it.
“You always want to be playing against the best players, but you want to be playing on the best courses and winning the best tournaments, and I’ve given myself the opportunity to do that tomorrow.”