TOO CLOSE TO CALL AS DUBAI FIELD MOVES INTO FINAL ROUND

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE

Thomas Aiken, Anders Hansen and Rory McIlroy share top spot at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic after a testing third round which ended with no fewer than 20 players within three shots of the lead.

And amongst them Tiger Woods is right in contention for a first title anywhere in almost 15 months, with the leaderboard looking too close to call, heading into Sunday's final round.

Windy conditions affected the later starters on day three at the Emirates Golf Club but former World No 1 Woods feels he has as good a chance as anyone after a battling level par 72.
That left him seven under par overall, one behind the leading trio of 2009 champion Rory McIlroy, Denmark's Hansen and in-form South African Aiken.
Nine players, including Woods, are within two of the leaders and the American superstar said: "I'm still in the ballgame. There are a bunch of guys there with a chance, and with the weather tomorrow you never know."
Woods closed with a 65 to triumph in Dubai in 2008 but does not expect that to give him any psychological edge.
"It's different conditions here (than in 2008), it's way different now," he added.
"If we get it like this tomorrow it will be a heck of a task, (but) it will be a lot of fun."
Woods was four over for his opening nine holes, but managed to put some horrid shots behind him on the inward half, an eagle three at the 548 yard tenth getting him on the right track.
Sergio Garcia, whose barren run extends even further than Woods' - right back to November 2008 - is in the group at seven under with Woods, France’s Jean-Baptiste Gonnet, Spanish pair Alvaro Velasco and Alvaro Quiros, Australian Brett Rumford and Swede Fredrik Andersson Hed. Garcia led for much of the day until he double-bogeyed the 359yd 17th.
Garcia has slipped from second to 79th in the world and took time out to try to discover his zest for the game.
Speaking about the 17th, he said: "It was unfortunate, I thought I was doing pretty well in the conditions. I didn't play the back nine that badly, I was holding it nicely and I had a couple of chances to get to ten (under). The good thing is that I'm still in it, I could have had a one-shot lead, but that's the way it is."
Northern Irishman McIlroy led at the end of the first and second rounds but his hopes of a wire-to-wire victory looked distant when he bogeyed four of his opening seven holes. Birdies at the ninth and 12th left him three over for the day but still firmly in contention.
He said: "The conditions were a lot different and I got off to a rough start, but I thought I steadied the ship really well. To be four over through seven and play the last 11 holes in one under is a pretty good effort."
Aiken - with six top-14 finishes in seven events this season - was one shot better off than McIlroy in his third round, while Hansen managed to finish one under thanks to birdies at the first, tenth and 13th.
“It was an extremely demanding golf course today,” said 27 year old Aiken. “The wind was not just blowing, but it was gusting and swirling from all different directions. You really had to take time over your shots.”
Hansen was delighted with his performance- particularly as it came in the context playing in front of packed galleries alongside Woods.
“I was very happy,” he said. “I was chipping the ball well, so that was good to keep the score going.
“It was always going to be a tough day playing with Tiger. He's a super guy and it's not his fault the crowd is going crazy out there and that there's so much movement around. It's just a bit difficult for his playing partners. 
“We had a chat about it. He knows what's going on, but he's a great guy and I really enjoyed (his company) too.”
Last year’s Challenge Tour No 1 Velasco shot the best round of the day with a seven under 65 to go into a share of fourth, and having made the cut with nothing to spare it was no coincidence that he was among the earlier starters who avoided the worst of the blustery conditions.
Martin Kaymer's quest to depose Lee Westwood as World No 1 looks almost certain to be unsuccessful this week. The German needs a top-two finish in Dubai to climb to the top of the rankings but a four over par 76 left him in a tie for 47th.
Westwood, who missed the cut in Qatar last time out, is faring much better this week and a level par round left him at five under overall.
He said: "It was a really grinding day, especially this afternoon. We'd seen people go out this morning in probably the easier conditions and shoot some low scores.
"I thought I should have shot 70. I didn't make a putt over about six feet so that was the main problem. But I played quite solidly, didn't make too many mistakes and I might have a chance tomorrow."

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THIRD-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 216 (3x72)
208 Anders Hansen (Denmark) 69 68 71, Thomas Aiken (S Africa) 67 67 74, Rory McIlroy (N Ireland) 65 68 75.
209 Alvaro Velasco (Spain) 74 70 65, Alvaro Quiros (Spain) 73 68 68, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Sweden) 69 71 69, Brett Rumford (Australia) 69 68 72, Tiger Woods (US) 71 66 72, Sergio Garcia (Spain) 657 67 75.
210 Stephen Gallacher (Scotland) 70 69 71, Michael Hoey (N Ireland) 70 69 71 (T11).

OTHER SCOTS' TOTALS

213 Richie Ramsay 71 69 73, Marc Warren 72 67 74 (T26).

214 David Drysdale 73 71 70 (T34).

216 Ross Bain 75 69 72 (T47).