Scott Jamieson picked up a late birdie for the second successive day to maintain his one-shot advantage on the field going into the final round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
The 38-year-old Scot has led from the opening gun at the Yas Links but once again yesterday he was overtaken by a pursuing group that includes former Open champion Shane Lowry.
Lowry and Belgium’s Thomas Pieters briefly edged in front of the Scot at ten-under after Jamieson had his sole bogey of the day at the 14th.
But the Scot bounced right back with a birdie at the 15th, and then holed a six-footer for a rare birdie at the 18th, completing a four-under 68. Lowry (67) and Pieters (67) are a shot back while Viktor Hovland and India’s Shubhankar Sharma are three behind at eight-under.
‘It would be a game-changer’
How it stands with 18 holes left to play 📈#ADGolfChamps | #RolexSeries
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 22, 2022
For Jamieson, who had his only win on tour as far back as 2001 in South Africa, he’s answered every question asked of him the first three days.
“It would be massive, a game changer to win a tournament of this stature,” he said. “There’s definitely been some great champions here. But there’s an awful long way to go.
“You know, all I can do is play whatever shots in front of me. I’m going to just try all those clichés, stay in the moment and just try and hit the best shot I can.”
Conditions were back to more normal for the Gulf in February from Friday, but there was still a decent breeze and the greens had been cut.
“After yesterday, certainly the whole day was a little more straightforward, but it still wasn’t easy,” added Jamieson. “The greens were considerably quicker and there was still a decent amount of wind.
“It was funny when I was on the last green. I noticed no one had made birdie there yet, so I was happy to knock that six-footer in.”
Jamieson had planned to start his season in South Africa in December. The Omicron wave decided otherwise, so he spent the time practising before taking some time off.
“I didn’t do a whole lot in the off-season,” he said. “I only really started practising again about ten days ago. Glad it was all still there!”
Lowry hits to the wrong sign
It looked in all the way 👏@ShaneLowryGolf shares the lead at -7.#ADGolfChamps | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/CUBNXhU7Gf
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 22, 2022
Lowry admitted there had been a comedic error at the last and that he was lucky to scramble a par.
“(Caddie Brian) Bo (Evans) told me to hit it at the sponsors’ sign,” he said. “But his one was 30 yards right of the one I was looking at.”
Lowry had a good laugh about it with playing partner Pieters but admitted it could have been costly.
“I got very lucky and fortunate with where it ended and made a good 2-putt afterwards. It could have been a different story. I might be sitting in the locker room sulking right now.”
Lowry won at Abu Dhabi in the same season he won his Open title, and he’s thinking of that again.
“I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” he said. “I see Scott is on 10-under. Whoever I’m paired with tomorrow it will be a good day.
“But there’s one thing in my mind, to be standing here tomorrow with the trophy again.”
Richie Ramsay moved up the field with one of the better rounds of the day, a three-under 69. The Aberdonian now lies inside the top 40 going into Sunday’s final round.