Five years ago, Oliver Wilson produced one of the unlikeliest professional victories in recent memory by securing the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews on the back of an invite, when ranked 792nd in the world. 
That was his maiden European Tour victory, two seasons after losing his card in the midst of horrendous struggles. It was a remarkable story.
Wilson is back in that position, having lost his European Tour card in 2016 as he finished 167th in the 2015 Challenge Tour rankings.
He is playing on an invite in the 2019 edition of Commercial Bank Qatar Masters and at the end of the third day it seemed like the campaign was moving in “the right direction” for another successful comeback.
Yesterday at the Doha Golf Club, the Englishman shot around the Peter Harradine-designed course in 69 strokes, propelling himself to the top of the leaderboard with a one-stroke lead going into the final round in testing conditions.
“I’m delighted, quite frankly. There’s still a long way to go. It’s going in the right direction – It’s hard out there. It’s really hard to get it close, even from the fairways with the wind. I tried really hard to keep it in play off the tees, get in the middle of the greens and just two-putt. Nobody is going to get too far away and shoot super low – you just have to go out there and plod your way round,” Wilson said after his consistent three-round show.   
He reached a ten-under par total with a birdie on the 18th hole yesterday after starting the day a shot off the lead. Wilson birdied the second and fourth to take a share of lead but dropped a shot on the fifth before making nine straight pars, and two more birdies.
This is the 38-year-old Englishman’s first 54-hole lead on the European Tour since the 2014 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship title.
His gain on the last hole saw him pull away from a five-way tie for second place, which includes Nick Cullen, Nacho Elvira, Mike Lorenzo-Vera and Erik van Rooyen.
“It’s nice to be back in the mix. I didn’t play very well today. I managed to keep it in play. Hit some good shots when I needed to. I was patient and found something on the last four holes and hit good shots all the way in – maybe a bit of maturity – I’m really pleased that happened and I allowed myself to let that happen. It’s easy to lose your head and get frustrated. I was thinking clearly and found something,” said Wilson, the 2008 Ryder Cup player.
Australia’s Cullen picked up birdies on the 10th, 12th and 16th, while an 18-foot putt on the penultimate hole thrust him right into the mix.
Cullen, who secured his European Tour card at Qualifying School at the end of last year, said, “It was pretty breezy out there today which made it pretty tricky to hit some clubs. I’m trying to forget about swing mechanics and just play a bit more golf and focusing on hitting shots. It’s perfect that I’m in contention as that’s exactly where I want to be and what I’ve been working towards. Hopefully I can have a good round tomorrow and put myself in the mix.”
Lorenzo-Vera enjoyed a stroke of good fortune as his tee shot on the drivable par four 16th hole hit a car and bounced to safety – he then converted his second of three consecutive birdies as he reached nine under par.
“I was very happy after three birdies. I played alright in the day, I just had a couple of three putts on 12 and 13 – that was a bit hard for the game I was playing. When you have six/seven metres to putt, grain plus wind is very hard to get it in. I just kept to the plan and got very lucky on 16,” Lorenzo-Vera said.
“I didn’t know it hit the car, I was sure I was in the water next to 17. I lost balance at the top of the backswing and pulled it. Kev, the referee, told me the ball was in the grass, I said ‘there’s no chance’. People told me it hit the car.”
South Africa’s Van Rooyen, who is bidding for his maiden victory on the European Tour, sounded satisfied after the round.
“I feel like I’d been hanging on all day until the 14th. I misjudged the wind on a couple of shots and came up short, I had a lot of long putts. That was a nice reward for staying patient and just grinding it out,” he said.
“I’m learning how to stay calm. I’m quite emotional, even if I don’t show it on the course. It’s nice to stay nice and steady, and learn from those experiences. I played great in Ireland last year but didn’t quite finish it off. I’ve learned a lot from those and I’m in a good position going into tomorrow,” the 29-year-old said.
Australia’s Jake McLeod shot the second hole-in-one of the tournament during the third round, and he also eagled the 18th to move to eight-under alongside compatriot Min Woo Lee, Belgium’s Thomas Detry and Anton Karlsson of Sweden.
Last week’s Oman Open winner, Kurt Kitayama, put himself in contention for a third European Tour title of the season after carding a two-under 70 to share tenth place with Bradley Dredge, Jorge Campillo, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Adri Arnaus, George Coetzee and Justin Harding on seven-under par.

LEADING THIRD ROUND SCORES
206: O Wilson (Eng) 69-68-69 
207: E Van Rooyen (RSA) 69-68-70, N Cullen (Aus) 69-70-68, N Elvira (Esp) 71-67-69, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 68-68-71 
208: T Detry (Bel) 70-68-70, J McLeod (Aus) 72-70-66, M Lee (Aus) 75-66-67, A Karlsson (Swe) 72-66-70 
209: J Campillo (Esp) 72-69-68, A Arnaus (Esp) 67-70-72, J Harding (RSA) 68-68-73, B Dredge (Wal) 68-71-70, G Coetzee (RSA) 68-68-73, C Bezuidenhout (RSA) 72-71-66, K Kitayama (USA) 69-70-70
210: S Jamieson (Sco) 73-69-68, M Kawamura (Jpn) 69-68-73, N Colsaerts (Bel) 68-70-72, M Korhonen (Fin) 72-70-68, K Broberg (Swe) 71-67-72, N Johansson (Swe) 70-72-68, A Sullivan (Eng) 70-71-69, O Fisher (Eng) 73-67-70, F Zanotti (Par) 72-68-70, J Dantorp (Swe) 72-68-70 
211: J Kruyswijk (RSA) 71-67-73, L Slattery (Eng) 69-74-68, J Walters (RSA) 67-73-71, A Saddier (Fra) 72-69-70, D Fichardt (RSA) 76-64-71 
212: A Otaegui (Esp) 71-72-69, T Murray (Eng) 73-68-71, L Johnston (Sco) 72-71-69, G Green (Mas) 71-69-72, M Kieffer (Ger) 69-71-72, A Björk (Swe) 73-70-69, L Herbert (Aus) 69-73-70, S Soderberg (Swe) 72-68-72, J Winther (Den) 70-70-72 
213: M Schwab (Aut) 72-69-72, R Fisher (Eng) 69-74-70, R Macintyre (Sco) 69-72-72, Y Miyazato (Jpn) 69-71-73, R Rock (Eng) 72-69-72, J Smith (Eng) 71-68-74, T Pulkkanen (Fin) 72-71-70, T Aiken (RSA) 71-69-73, P Waring (Eng) 69-70-74, C Paisley (Eng) 74-69-70, J Choi (Kor) 72-69-72, L De Jager (RSA) 74-67-72, W Nienaber (am) (RSA) 75-68-70 
214: D Lawson (Aus) 70-68-76, R Ramsay (Sco) 68-70-76, H Leon (Chi) 68-72-74, M Southgate (Eng) 72-70-72 
215: B Wiesberger (Aut) 72-71-72, K Koivu (Fin) 73-70-72, G Bhullar (Ind) 69-71-75, A Chesters (Eng) 70-70-75, T Bjørn (Den) 72-71-72, K Samooja (Fin) 71-70-74