Gutsy efforts keep Scottish duo on course for big finishes in Abu Dhabi

Scott Jamieson tees off on the 11th hole in the third round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. Picture: Getty Images

Jamieson recovered from running up a triple-bogey 6 at the seventh after he’d got himself into a share of the lead to sit joint-fifth, keeping him on course for a second successive big finish on the European Tour after ending up in a tie for third in the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa last month.

On his Rolex Series debut, Forrest is also in the top 15, having shrugged off an early setback as he inadvertantly moved his ball in the desert at the second hole at Abu Dhabi Golf Club and being hit with a one-stroke penalty to keep a spring in his step heading into the final circuit.

Helped by making nine 2s in the opening 54 holes, Lowry holds a three-shot lead as he bids for a first win since landing the 2015 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Ohio and, with seven and nine shots to make up respectively, it’s a tall order for either Jamieson or Forrest to deny the 31-year-old.

Grant Forrest walks off the first tee with his caddie Scott Carmichael at Abu Dhabi Golf Club. Picture: Getty Images

However, this if the first time Lowry has had his nose in front heading into a final round since he squandered a four-shot lead in the 2016 US Open at Oakmont and, if those demons come back to haunt the Mullingar man, then the Scottish pair could be among those to capitalise.

“Funnily enough, that was probably the best I have played,” said Jamieson as he reflected on carding a one-under 71 - it left him sitting on 10-under and on course for a big pay-day in the $7 million tournament - after opening with scores of 69 and 66. “But that’s how this game works sometimes.”

His card contained six birdies, three of which came in the opening four holes in the company of Ian Poulter and earned the 35-year-old Glaswegian a share of the lead with Lowry and South African Richard Sterne before he came a cropper at the short seventh.

“There are only two shots I’d want back probably today and one was the tee shot at the seventh,” admitted Jamieson of finding a bunker, from where he knifed his second into a water hazard at the opposite side of the green.

Irishman Shane Lowry celebrates making a last-hole birdie to open up a three-shot lead in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. Picture: Getty Images

“You can’t be in the bunkers as there’s no sand in a lot of them. Having said that, I was actually taking my medicine, aiming so far left to give me 50 feet of green. But there was even less sand than I thought.”

Back-to-back birdies at the tenth and 11th repaired some of that damage before straying into another bunker led to a bogey at the par-3 12th. The other shot he’d like to have had again was “trying to jam in” a birdie putt at the 14th rather than “rolling” that attempt as it ended up four feet past and cost him a bogey. But a birdie at the last helped ease that disappointment.

“I’m happy to birdie the last as it would have been a travesty if I didn’t shoot under par after the fast start and getting it back again,” said Jamieson. I hit more fairways today than any other day, missing only two, and had six birdies today in tough conditions. It looks like Shane is well out in front, but every position inside the top 10 is a lot of points.”

The Florida-based player missed the cut in four of his six previous appearances in this event, with his best finish being joint-36th in 2017. “I don’t reallty understand it,” he said, smiling. “I have always struggled here for whatever reason, but I’ve certainly proved to myself that I can play the course today, hitting a ton of fairways and a ton of greens and made six birdies in tough conditions with tough pins.”

Forrest, who is playing in his first Rolex Series event after being among four Scots to graduate from the Challenge Tour last season, could easily have slipped into reverse gear after his unfortunate start, but the 25-year-old seems to be made of stern stuff.

“I hit a poor tee shot at No 2 and ended up in a deep foot print in the left sand,” he said after signing for a 72 to sit two shots behind Jamieson in a share of 12th. “I went to move what a thought was a single leaf but it was attached to a twig and the ball moved.

“I called the ref over and had to replace it - with a single-shot penalty - still in the footprint. I hacked it into the rough then found the front bunker and must have made a 45-footer for a bogey-6. That was a bit of a relief as it could have been pretty bad there.”

Out in two-over after also dropping a shot at the par-4 fifth, the Craigielaw player hit his second from around 270 yards to ten feet at the tenth to spark a run of three straight birdies and he, too, was pleased overall with his day’s work.

“Going out, I thought to myself, if we can get round in level par, you are not going to fall miles down the leaderboard,” said Forrest, who will get into next week’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic without having to play in a 36-hole shoot-out on Sunday and Monday if he can secure his second top-10 finish in just five events in his rookie season. “It was playing tough out there today.”

One ahead overnight, Lowey stretched his advantage with a five-under 67 that included three 2s for the third day running. On 17-under, he holds a healthy cusion over his nearest challenger, South African Richard Sterne, with Poulter two shots further back in third after signing off with an eagle-3.

“I felt very comfortable out there today and I’m very happy with that,” said Lowry, whose last win a regular event in the circuit came in the 2012 Portugal Masters, having made the breakthrough as an amateur in the Irish Open three years earlier.

“I’m not going to say I feel invincible because we all know that this game is not easy, and it can jump up and bite you when you least expect it. But I’m very excited about tomorrow and will be trying to go out and do what I’ve been doing.

“Obviously we’re playing in a world-class field on a very difficult golf course. I think I just need to go out and stay aggressive and just play my own game and try and make as many birdies as I can. That’s the way I play golf. If I can do that, hopefully I can be up there at the end of the day.”

Bob MacIntyre, another of the Scottish newcomers on the circuit this season, made a 60-yard up and down from out of a bunker at the last for a 72, which left him sitting in a share of 50th on three-under.

“That was a bonus ball,” declared the 22-year-old left-hander from Oban, having pulled his drive perilously close to water on the right. “Funnily enough, today was probably the best I’ve driven it this week, but I’ll take level-par as a lot of guys are going backwards.”

Richie Ramsay, the fourth Scot to survive the cut, went from one ahead of MacIntyre overnight to one behind after having to settle for a 74, which included three dropped shots in the space of four holes on the back nine.

“A bad iron shot at the 12th killed me mentally for a few holes,” said the Aberdonian. “I duffed two shots through mental mistakes. I drove it pretty good and lipped out four or five times, but didn’t make enough average up and downs.”