Tyrrell grabs pole position heading into the final round
Dustin Johnson acknowledges the crowd after his eagle on No. 8 yesterday. 72, but responded with a 68 in the second round and carried on where he left off on Saturday.
The world No. 3 birdied the first, third and sixth before adding an eagle on the eighth – surprisingly his first under-par score on any of the par fives at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.
Johnson’s momentum stalled with a run of six straight pars before a hat-trick of birdies from the 15th gave the 32-year-old a superb 64, equalling the lowest of the week.
“I played a little bit better today,” Johnson said with typical understatement. “The biggest difference was I drove it better, I hit a lot more fairways today and holed a few putts.
“I’m still yet to birdie a par five but I did make an eagle on eight, chipped one in. It was a really solid round.”
Kaymer, who blew a 10-shot lead in the final round here in 2015, was unable to build on consecutive rounds of 66 as he tries to win for the first time since cruising to victory in the 2014 US Open at Pinehurst.
“I didn’t hit as many good tee shots as the first two days,” the former world No. 1 said.
“I missed a few fairways today and then it’s difficult to create birdie chances.
“You always have one of those rounds you’re not quite happy with, so it’s okay. I think I’m in a very good position.
“I don’t feel a lot of pressure to win the golf tournament. Always when you lead a golf tournament by three or four shots, you kind of expect yourself to win, and I don’t really have that pressure tomorrow.
“I know I’ve done well here in the past, so I can play very free and very aggressive.”
Top Scots are Marc Warren and Scott Jamieson, six shots of the lead. David Drysdale and Richie Ramsay are three shots further back.
ROBERT MACINTYRE, from Oban, and Melrose-born Karis Davidson both lost in the men’s and women’s semi-finals of the Australian amateur championships at Yarra Yarra Golf Club, Australia yesterday.
Left-hander MacIntyre (Glencruitten), the world No. 10 amateur, lost by 3 and 1 to West Australian Min Woo Lee who takes on Matias Sanchez (Australia) in today’s final.
Davidson, 18, who has lived in Queensland since her family emigrated from Innerleithen nine years ago, lost by one hole to world No. 4 female amateur Hye-Jin Choi, one of six South Koreans to make the last eight of the championship.