Scottish-based Victor Perez 'excited' to have Dustin Johnson in sights in Saudi

Dundee-based Frenchman Victor Perez is “excited about the challenge” as he leads the chase of world No 1 Dustin Johnson in the final round of the $3.5 million Saudi International.
Victor Perez in action during the third round of the Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City. Picture: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images.Victor Perez in action during the third round of the Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City. Picture: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images.
Victor Perez in action during the third round of the Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City. Picture: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images.

Johnson, the winner in 2019 and second last year, is on course to maintain his love affair with Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City in the final leg of the European Tour’s Middle East Swing.

Despite dropping his first shots of the week when finding water to run up a double-bogey 6 at the 13th, the Masters champion moved ominously the into pole position once again as a third-round 66 left him on 13-under-par.

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Johnson leads by two shots from Perez after he also took route 66 in the penultimate circuit on the Red Sea coast, with American Tony Finau, English pair Tyrrell Hatton and Andy Sullivan and Dane Soren Kjeldsen all on 10-under.

Dustin Johnson on the 17th tee during the third round of the Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City. Picture: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images.Dustin Johnson on the 17th tee during the third round of the Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City. Picture: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images.
Dustin Johnson on the 17th tee during the third round of the Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City. Picture: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images.

Calum Hill is the leading Scot in tie for seventh on nine-under, having finished birdie-birdie for a 68, with Stephen Gallacher, who had shared the halfway lead, a shot further back.

As he showed when easing to a five-shot victory at Augusta National in November, Johnson is a hard man to catch when he’s out in front after 54 holes, but Perez is relishing the opportunity to test himself against the best.

“I think that's as good as it gets,” said the 28-year-old, who moved to Dundee to be with his girlfriend Abigail, who is a dental student in the City of Discovery. “I'm very excited about the challenge. I think this is all you strive for.”

Perez landed his breakthrough European Tour win in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews in 2019. Since then, he’s produced some strong performances in Rolex Series events and has virtually secured an automatic spot already in Europe’s team for the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits in September.

“It will be very dependent on conditions, to be honest,” he said of his task in the final round. “If it's going to be windy, it's going to be a grind coming down the stretch for sure.”

Johnson, who is now a combined 41-under-par for 10 rounds at this venue, finished birdie-birdie as he bounced back manfully after giving the chasing back hope as his approach at the 13th was pushed a “hair right of the flag” touch and found aqua.

“Other than that, I drove it well and hit a lot of really good iron shots in there to give myself a lot of good chances at birdie,” said the 36-year-old afterwards. “Didn't hole a whole lot of putts, but finishing nicely definitely helped the day out.

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“I feel like I'm playing very solid. I'm seeing a lot of the same things each and every week with my game. I'm pleased with where it's at and where it is going. As long as I can keep this up, I think I'll be there at the end of the year.”

Johnson is chasing a 28th worldwide win as he builds up to his Green Jacket defence in April. “It's a pretty big golf tournament with a very good field, and it will definitely give me a lot of confidence for the rest of the year,” he said.

Hatton, who is bidding to land a second victory in three starts after his success in Abu Dhabi a fortnight ago, carded five birdies as he moved into the mix again with Scot Mick Donaghy on his bag.

“I just need to go out there tomorrow and try and shoot as low as possible,” said the Englishman. “I'm pretty happy with that score today. I felt pretty comfortable on the greens and felt like I was hitting the lines better today, and I feel like I haven't really done that the previous days. I'll take confidence from that going into tomorrow.”

Finau hasn’t tasted victory since landing a breakthrough PGA Tour triumph in the Puerto Rico Open in 2016, but the 31-year-old is also handily-placed if Johnson has his first off day in this part of the world.

“I've hit it nicely,” he said after a 67. “I haven't put myself in harm's way. I've hit most of the greens and, when I haven't, I've been able to salvage par. It's been pretty solid through these first three days and hopefully continue that tomorrow.

“I think probably somewhere around 65 is what we're looking at. I think 15- to 16-under is probably a good number to shoot for tomorrow. You never know what the conditions are going to be like, but I reckon one or two guys will start pulling away right around that. Be aggressive tomorrow. That's all there is to it.”

Like Graeme McDowell when he came out on top 12 months ago, Kjeldsen is aiming to show this course is not necessarily a long-hitter’s paradise.

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The 45-year-old Dane, who sits 610th in the world rankings, carded six birdies in a 65 to raise his hopes of a fifth tour win and first since the 2015 Irish Open at Royal County Down.

“The leaders haven't gotten away too much, so all to play for still tomorrow,” said Kjeldsen after his splendid day’s work.

Sergio Garcia went one better with a seven-birdie 64 to sit alongside Hill, who rolled in a 17-footer at the 17th then made a three-and-a-half footer at the last as he signed for a battling 68.

Gallacher, who had returned earlier in the day to finish his second circuit and did so by staying tied with Kiwi Ryan Fox on 10-under, had three birdies, a double-bogey and three bogeys as he then shot a 72.

That left him one ahead of US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau and two in front of Bob MacIntyre, who jumped into a tie for 23rd on the back of a 65.

David Law, the fourth Scot to make the cut, sits joint-65th on one-under following a 69.

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