Paul Waring hopes to have his “bad golf” out of the way after seeing his lead reduced to one at the HSBC Abu Dhabi Championship.
The 39-year-old from Wirral recorded a course-record 61 on Friday to enter the third round five shots ahead, but struggled to reach an over 73 at Yas Links.
Waring’s total of 18 under left him ahead of Denmark’s Niklas Norgaard, while Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, Thorbjorn Olesen and Sebastian Soderberg are tied for third at 15 under.
Race to Dubai leader Rory McIlroy looked set to put himself in contention until he fell into the water late in the race and made a double bogey seven.
A score of under 69 left the Northern Irishman with a five-shot deficit to make up for on Sunday.
“Untimely mistake like yesterday on the 17th and I dug myself a little hole to get out of it, but depending on what the leaders do, I can still approach tomorrow with the feeling of having half a chance,” declared McIlroy.
Waring found a bunker with his first tee shot and had to climb par from eight feet at the first, but appeared to have settled in before three-putting for bogey from eight feet at the fourth.
He failed to find a birdie afterward, his only deviation from par coming when he made bogey at the 14th after sinking into the sand from the tee.
Waring joked after his tour: “You must be having an average day, right?”
“I’m a little disappointed – I felt like I could have gotten out of sight, but four rounds of golf, you’re always going to have a bit of an iffy set of holes, an iffy round of golf. If at the start of the week you had given me a fast forward for tomorrow, I would have ripped your hand off.
“I try to stay positive and I’m still in the lead, I’m looking forward to it tomorrow.
“I wasn’t at my best today, I felt a little nervous in all honesty, I felt the greens were a foot and a half faster, they broke a little more than what I was reading. I just had a little trouble with them today.
“I was absolutely fine for the first few holes. Four, I hit a nice tee shot and three putts and that put me a little behind. I honestly haven’t gotten over it.
“I went into defensive mode a little bit: you play to win golf tournaments and you have to manage your emotions and what’s going on around you.
“Tomorrow is a round of golf in the sun – I’m looking forward to the challenge now.” I feel like my bad golf is sorted now. »
British Masters winner Norgaard signed for a 69, while former Open champion Lowry breezed through the field with a 66.
“I’m happy with my score,” said the Irishman. “It doesn’t seem like the leaders are going that far away.
“I think I’ll be within reach tomorrow, and if I can take a low shot tomorrow, I can be there or thereabouts.”