Waring holds one-shot Abu Dhabi lead as McIlroy struggles

ABU DHABI: 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 number three 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.

With the wind picking up towards the afternoon and the greens becoming firmer and faster, the conditions were challenging after two benign days.