Rory McIlroy leapfrogged Tyyrell Hatton to reclaim a one-shot lead after the third round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, carding 67 to go 13-under overall yesterday.
McIlroy, the world number six, was five shots off overnight leader Hatton and finished his incomplete second round on par early yesterday before the 31-year-old clawed his way back into the lead in the third. The Northern Irishman had five birdies and a stunning eagle on the 10th when his shot from 73 yards landed on the green and rolled straight into the cup.
“It’s so blustery and it’s a different type of golf than we’re used to playing here in Abu Dhabi, where there’s usually not much wind. You feel like you have a chance on every hole,” McIlroy said.
“There’s like a little more scrambling involved and longer putts. So I thought I did well today. Obviously had that big stroke of luck on 10, the ball hitting the pin and going in.
“Apart from that, I played well. I drove it much better on the back nine, and I hit it much better on the back nine, so I was really encouraged with that.”
Hatton, who carded three eagles in the first two rounds, was let down on the front nine with two bogeys, on the fifth and seventh, and he managed only three birdies in the round. “It was a difficult day. The conditions were really tough for the whole day,” he said. “I just felt like I had nothing really go my way. Hit a couple decent shots and ran into a bunker with a terrible lie and had quite a few putts burning the edge or lipping out.”
Hatton’s compatriot Tommy Fleetwood is also in contention, with the Englishman moving up eight positions to third, two strokes behind McIlroy.
Im shoots 65 to seize PGA lead in California desert
South Korea’s Im Sung-jae, a Masters runner-up last year, fired a bogey-free seven-under par 65 to grab a one-stroke lead after Friday’s second round of the US PGA American Express tournament.
The 22-year-old Asian star stood on 11-under 133 after 36 holes at PGA West in La Quinta, California, in an event using the par-72 Nicklaus and Stadium courses.
“I feel like my mid-range putts were really doing well,” Im said. “I dropped a lot of mid-range putts and that’s what led me to a good score today.”
South Korean Kim Si-woo, Canada’s Nick Taylor, Mexico’s Abraham Ancer and American Brandon Hagy shared second on 134 with Italy’s Francesco Molinari, American Doug Ghim and Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo another stroke adrift.
Im, who began on the back nine at the Stadium course, sank a four-foot birdie putt at the par-4 12th, a 10-footer to birdie the par-3 13th and rolled in a 25-foot birdie putt at the par-4 18th.
After opening his back nine with a par at the first, Im sank a 20-foot birdie putt at the par-4 third, a 21-foot birdie putt at the par-4 seventh and a 17-foot birdie putt at the par-5 eighth. “I was struggling with my putting leading up to this week, so I worked on my putting a lot and especially for today’s round,” Im said.
“I started drawing a line on the ball and as I visualize my putts and that seemed to work pretty well today.”
Rory McIlroy during day three of the Abu Dhabi Championship yesterday. (European Tour)
