US golfer Patrick Reed plays a shot during the third day of the Qatar Masters at Doha Golf Club.
Doha, Qatar: Patrick Reed is one strong round away from claiming his second DP World Tour title in three weeks after taking a two-shot lead following the penultimate round of the Qatar Masters yesterday.
On Moving Day, traditionally the stage for players to surge up the leaderboard, the American maintained his impressive form at Doha Golf Club, producing a bogey-free round to remain on top, with Denmark’s Jacob Skov Olesen emerging as his nearest challenger.
Reed, currently second in the Race to Dubai Rankings and projected to move to the summit, mixed two birdies with 16 pars for a two-under-par 70, taking his aggregate score to 14 under.
The in-form golfer, who lifted the Dubai Desert Classic trophy last month and finished runner-up at last weekend’s Bahrain Championship, was pleased with his performance.
“I felt like I hit the ball better today than I did the last two days – well, really compared to yesterday, and shot two shots worse, so it’s an interesting game,” Reed told DP World Tour.
“The golf game feels good, it feels solid, it feels steady, and I really just need to go out there tomorrow, keep my foot on the gas, hopefully get off to a faster start than today, and see where it goes.”
Olesen made a sluggish start with eight pars and a bogey on the front nine but surged on the back nine, rolling in five birdies to card a four-under-par 68 and reach 12 under, keeping himself firmly in contention.
“It was a grind on the front nine. I couldn’t really get anything going and didn’t hit many good shots at all,” Olesen said.
“I hit a good wedge on ten after a poor drive. It’s not really the pin position you want from the first cut, but I hit a good one and rolled it in. That got me back to level, and I knew it wasn’t playing that easy, so I wasn’t in a terrible spot. I just needed something to happen.”
Spain’s Angel Ayora and New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier share third place on 11 under, while Oliver Lindell (FIN), Gregorio De Leo (ITA), Joakim Lagergren (SWE) and David Micheluzzi (AUS) are tied for fifth on ten under.
Further down the leaderboard, Sebastian Soderberg (SWE) produced the round of the day with a superb 65, while Calum Hill (SCO) - runner-up alongside Reed in Bahrain last week - and former champion Antoine Rozner (FRA) each signed for 66 to move to nine under. They were joined at that mark by Dan Bradbury (ENG), Kazuma Kobori (NZ) and Johannes Veerman (USA).
