Thriston Lawrence edged a shot closer to the leader on Saturday with a third round of one-under-par 71 in the DP World Tour’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at Yas Links in the UAE, but he slipped down to a share of 18th ahead of the final round.
Lawrence’s round was something of a roller-coaster affair, with five birdies and four bogeys, but the fact that he was able to stay under par despite that mean that he was seven strokes off the lead. Up front, Paul Waring of England had a one-over-par 73, and, at 18-under, was just one ahead of Niklas Norgaard of Denmark. Four players were in a share of third on 15-under.
It’s a crowded leaderboard ahead of the final round, with six players on 14-under in a share of seventh, five in a share of 13th on 13-under, including Race to Dubai leader Rory McIlroy, and nine others with Lawrence in a share of 18th on 12-under-par.
For Lawrence, it’s important that his finishing position is as high as possible to keep him in second on the Race to Dubai rankings behind McIlroy, and his current position keeps him right there.
Brandon Stone was one of five players on 10-under-par in a share of 30th after his second successive two-under-par 70. He’ll be targeting a fast finish to try and get inside the top 50 on the rankings to gain a place in the DP World Tour Championship next week. He’s currently projected to climb two places to 62nd.
Likewise, Casey Jarvis will hope for a fine closing round after his third-round 70 took him to eight-under and a share of 41st. He’s projected to finish 60th from there in the rankings.
