US PAIN TAUGHT LOWRY A LESSON

THE last time Shane Lowry led a tournament going into the final round was the 2016 US Open at Oakmont, where his dream of a first major win died amid a flurry of mistakes. It seemed appropriate, then, that a local band playing here kicked off their post-round set with the Bee Gees hit Stayin’

Alive as the Irishman discussed his chances of doing just that at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship today. The 31-year-old from Offaly has been impressive on his way to 17 under by the end of day three, compiling an extraordinary statistic on his way to a three-shot lead over gifted South African Richard Sterne, with Ian Poulter lurking in third place five behind. The four par threes are hardly easy holes but over the first three days Lowry, would you believe, has mustered nine birdies from his 12 attempts. ‘I don’t know how many strokes I’ve gained on the field on those holes but I would guess it would be quite a few,’ he said. ‘I started laughing when I birdied the last of them today. It’s amazing to have played those holes in 18 shots.’ Lowry freely admits that one of the reasons why his career has not kicked on in recent years is because he has been too hard on himself — and that was the case following that fateful US Open, where he coughed up a four-shot lead. ‘What I took from that day, that will hopefully help me here, is to stay aggressive, keep playing my shots and try to make birdies,’ he said. Scott Jamieson and Grant Forrest lost further ground on the leader, going round in 71 and 72 respectively. Robert MacIntyre remains on three under, while Richie Ramsay is one shot back.