Waring fires 73, posts 1-shot lead

ABU Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — England’s Paul Waring shot a one-over par 73 and held a one-shot lead going into the final round of the Abu Dhabi Championship on Saturday as Ireland’s Rory McIlroy continued to struggle.

A day after setting a course record 61, the 39-year-old Waring was the only player among the top-29 on the leaderboard to post an over-par score for a total 18-under par 198.

Fast-rising Dane Niklas Norgaard Moller hit a third round 69 to cut Waring’s five-shot overnight lead.

World No. 3 Rory McIlroy dropped a big number in his closing holes for the second day in a row, this time a double bogey on the par-5 18th after an errant tee shot found water on the left side, to sit five shots off the lead.

On Friday, the Northern Irishman had made a triple bogey on the par-3 17th.

“If you’d given me a one-shot lead going into the final round at the beginning of the week, I would have snatched your hand,” said Waring, who is looking for his first win since the 2018 Nordea Masters.

“A little disappointed, because I felt like I could have really moved forward today and put myself out of sight.”

“You’ve got to have an average day, don’t you?”

Three shots back, Ireland’s Shane Lowry (66), the 2019 tournament winner, was tied for third with Englishman Tommy Fleetwood (71), Dane Thorbjoern Olesen (71) and Swede Sebastian Soederberg (68) at 15-under par.