Patrick Reed is in pole position to pick up his second victory of the season as he takes a two-shot lead into the final round of the Qatar Masters at Doha Golf Club.
Related: Patrick Reed edges ahead at halfway stage
The American entered the third round with a one-shot cushion at the top of the leaderboard and he extended his advantage after posting a bogey-free 70 to move to 14 under par, two ahead of Denmark’s Jacob Skov Olesen.
The four-time DP World Tour winner will look to cement his position atop the International Swing rankings following his first Rolex Series win at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic a fortnight ago and a runner up finish at last week’s Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship.
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Reed made two birdies at the second and the par-five tenth, alongside 16 pars in his blemish-free round.
The 35-year-old had his overnight lead cancelled out after playing partner Joakim Lagergren birdied the first, before both players made a gain at the second, while a third birdie at the sixth hole took the Swede in front.
Lagergren bogeyed the eighth after finding the water and Reed birdied the tenth to restore his one-shot advantage. Lagergren dropped shots at the 11th, 14th and 16th to leave him four off the pace going into the final round.
Denmark’s Olesen was one over for his front nine but five birdies coming home, including three in the last four holes, ensured he will tee it up in the final group alongside Reed tomorrow as he goes in search of a maiden DP World Tour win.
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Spaniard Angel Ayora posted a two under par round of 70 to move into third position alongside Daniel Hillier on 11 under par, while Oliver Lindell, Gregorio De Leo, David Micheluzzi and Lagergren are a shot further back in a share of fifth.
Scotland’s Calum Hill, runner-up alongside Reed in Bahrain last week, and Antoine Rozner each shot 66 to reach nine under par alongside Sebastian Söderberg, who carded the low-round-of-the-day with a 65. Alongside them on that total were Dan Bradbury, Kazuma Kobori and Johannes Veerman.
Player quotes:
Patrick Reed: Obviously it was really windy out there today, especially this afternoon. It’s one of those days you’ve got to take advantage of the par-fives, I didn’t really do that very well today.
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A three-putt on the last obviously stings but to go around this place bogey-free, especially with how the wind was, it’s obviously successful. I felt like I hit the ball better today than I did the last two days – well, really compared to yesterday, and the score’s three shots worse , so it’s an interesting game.
The golf game feels good, it feels solid, it feels steady and really just got to go out there and keep the foot on the gas tomorrow, get off to hopefully a faster start than today, and see where it goes. Really the only time I felt actual stress would have been on 13, that iron shot, that par-three is already hard as it is. It was a perfect number where I felt like if I hit my normal shot shape it’s going to be working so hard left because of the wind.
