Thorbjørn Olesen will take a four-stroke lead into the final round of the Ras Al Khaimah Championship as he bids for an eighth DP World Tour title.
Related: Rasmus Hojgaard, Manuel Elvira in share of lead at Al Hamra
The 2018 Ryder Cup player followed Friday’s course record-equalling ten under par 62 with a nine under par 63 to sign for a 22 under par total, with fellow Dane Rasmus Højgaard his nearest challenge on 18 under.
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Olesen started his third round one stroke behind Højgaard but immediately drew level with a birdie on the first, following that with four more birdies as he signed for a four under par front nine. Five further gains followed on the back nine as he secured a 54-hole lead for the seventh time in his DP World Tour career, from which he has converted six.
Højgaard carded a four under par 68, which include a crucial 18-foot par saving putt on the par five 18th after he found water down the right-hand side with his drive, ensuring the gap was just four strokes ahead of the final round.
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Frenchman Frederic Lacroix carded a six under par 66 to take third place on 16 under, he is one stroke ahead of Marcus Helligkilde of Denmark, Spain’s Angel Hidalgo and South African Brandon Stone, who share fourth on 15 under.
Player Quotes
Thorbjørn Olesen: “I thought today I played a lot better (than yesterday). I hit a lot more fairways today, and that gave me the chance to be aggressive with the second shots. It was nice to find so many fairways. It was a great round again.
“I’ll play roughly the same. You have a guy like Rasmus behind you and you know anything can happen with his firepower. You have to keep focused, do your own thing. It’s never going to be easy but I’m going to try my hardest.
“That’s a pretty good stat (six wins from seven 54-hole leads). I feel pretty comfortable in that position. There’s always going to be nerves, but it’s how you deal with it. I enjoy being in that position. That’s what you practice for as a little kid, to have the chance to win on a Sunday on the DP World Tour. It’s going to be a lot of fun tomorrow.”
Rasmus Højgaard: “(The putt on 18) was very important. My last two holes… I played them not exactly how you would want to. But I managed to hole two very good putts and I feel like I’ve given myself a chance for tomorrow.
“I played okay today. A couple of bad shots here and there. I struggled to find the pace on the greens, I felt like they were slower today. That annoyed me a bit out there, spending so much energy on trying to figure that out. It was nice to make some birdies on the back nine and I still feel like I’m in contention.
“I see the leaderboards out there, just trying to play catch up with him and not fall too far behind. It’s nice to see Thorbjørn playing well and it’s nice that we can go out there tomorrow and battle it out.”
Frederic Lacroix: “It was tough at the end. I had a good start. After nine holes I was just trying to keep that momentum going. I just made that bogey on 15, but other than that it was a solid round.
“A win always means a lot, no matter what tour you’re playing. I’ll just try to focus on my game tomorrow, play a good round and see where that puts me.”
