MARTIN KAYMER, SIX AHEAD, SET TO JOIN ELITE
WITH ANOTHER ABU DHABI VICTORY
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Martin Kaymer, pictured in action today, courtesy of Getty Images(c), is on the verge of joining an elite band of golfers to win the same event four or more times in their career, as he streaked six strokes clear of the second placed Thomas Pieters at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.
Two birdies to start the third round saw the German pick up where he left off the previous day, with a further five gains following on Saturday to see him card a seven under par 65, and pull within four shots of his own tournament scoring record of 24 under par.
Were the reigning US Open champion to hold on for a fourth title at Abu Dhabi Golf Club, then Kaymer would join a group that includes Seve Ballesteros, Sir Nick Faldo, Miguel Angel Jiménez, Bernhard Langer, Mark McNulty, Tom Watson and Tiger Woods in having won the same European Tour event on at least four occasions.
His playing partner Pieters was afforded a front row seat to the German’s excellence on Moving Day in the desert, but the 22 year old Belgian proved his undoubted talent en route to a two under par round of 70 to finish 14 under par.
He is a stroke clear of two-time European Tour winners Alexander Levy and Bernd Wiesberger, who fired rounds of 67 and 66, respectively, to be in with a chance of victory, were Kaymer to falter.
World Number One Rory McIlroy heads a trio in a tie for fifth at 12 under thanks to a 71 on Saturday, and will start the final day on the leaderboard alongside South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel, who signed for a 65 with his wife Rosalind on the bag, as well as Gary Stal of France, who shot a 67.
Further down the field, US Ryder Cup star Rickie Fowler is in a tie for 67th after a one over par 73.
QUOTES
Martin Kaymer (-20)
“I'm not scared of leading a golf tournament. I really enjoy the challenge, because it's a challenge against yourself. You challenge yourself all day long and it's about really trying to minimise the mistakes and the bogeys, and fortunately I did that yesterday and again today.
“The (scoring) record is not that interesting for me to be honest. To me the most important thing is that I win the golf tournament; if it’s by one shot, by six shots or by ten shots, I don’t really care, just as long as I win.”
Thomas Pieters (-14)
“Not much happened, but give credit to Martin, he played a really, really good round of golf and didn't really make any mistakes, so credit to him.
“I've just got to do the same thing tomorrow and hopefully the putts drop, but he played great. I thought I drove it well today too, but just didn't really take advantage of my chances and I didn't really hit it close enough to the hole. Tomorrow I just need to go as low as I can.”
Rory McIlroy (-12)
“I can't really fault my game from tee to green, but I just couldn't hole anything at all. I made a couple but I struggled to read them, struggled with the pace. Because of that, it wasn’t good enough and, realistically, it looks like I'm playing for second place tomorrow.”
SCOTSWATCH: Paul Lawrie had eight birdies and a double-bogey 7 at the long seventh on his third-round card of a five-under-par 67. The 1999 Open champion is now T26 on eight-under 208 - 12 shots behind leader Kaymer. Craig Lee had a 70 for 211 and T45 position but David Drysdale drifted to a 74 for 215 and T67 position.
Scores after round three:
par 216 (3x72)
196 M Kaymer (Ger) 64 67 65
202 T Pieters (Bel) 65 67 70
203 A Levy (Fra) 66 70 67, B Wiesberger (Aut) 72 65 66
204 G Stal (Fra) 68 69 67, C Schwartzel (RSA) 71 68 65, R McIlroy (NIr) 67 66 71
205 V Dubuisson (Fra) 69 72 64, J Donaldson (Wal) 73 67 65, D Van Der Walt (RSA) 70 70 65, P Uihlein (USA) 67 68 70
206 G Bourdy (Fra) 66 74 66, M Madsen (Den) 68 69 69, M Jiménez (Esp) 72 67 67, E Pepperell (Eng) 70 68 68
207 R Green (Aus) 68 68 71, M Fraser (Aus) 72 68 67, R Karlsson (Swe) 67 71 69, B An (Kor) 67 75 65, A Wall (Eng) 70 71 66, J Morrison (Eng) 68 67 72, N Fasth (Swe) 69 70 68, B Grace (RSA) 66 74 67, T Hatton (Eng) 66 71 70, S Webster (Eng) 73 67 67
208 P Lawrie (Sco) 68 73 67, S Hansen (Den) 69 69 70, E Grillo (Arg) 70 70 68, O Wilson (Eng) 71 71 66
209 M Kieffer (Ger) 70 71 68, R Fisher (Eng) 71 69 69, A Hansen (Den) 68 73 68, O Fisher (Eng) 69 70 70, A Sullivan (Eng) 71 71 67, S Benson (Eng) 69 73 67, M Ilonen (Fin) 66 75 68, G Coetzee (RSA) 68 73 68, Y Yang (Kor) 70 70 69, R Jacquelin (Fra) 69 71 69, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 69 69 71
210 A Noren (Swe) 67 75 68, S Hend (Aus) 70 70 70, K Broberg (Swe) 69 71 70, A Cañizares (Esp) 69 70 71
211 C Lee (Sco) 73 68 70, R Sterne (RSA) 71 70 70, E Els (RSA) 70 72 69, K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 72 67 72, D McGrane (Irl) 71 69 71, J Rose (Eng) 73 69 69, N Colsaerts (Bel) 68 71 72, A Johnston (Eng) 73 68 70, J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 70 71 70
212 B Dredge (Wal) 72 70 70, J Singh (Ind) 68 73 71, R Paratore (Ita) 70 69 73, A Lahiri (Ind) 72 68 72, D Willett (Eng) 70 71 71, R Rock (Eng) 69 73 70, S Khan (Eng) 73 67 72
213 J Carlsson (Swe) 70 72 71, M Nixon (Eng) 68 71 74
214 R Bland (Eng) 69 73 72, T Olesen (Den) 72 69 73, J Kruger (RSA) 74 68 72, O Farr (Wal) 73 69 72
215 D Drysdale (Sco) 70 71 74, R Fowler (USA) 67 75 73
217 G Tian-Lang (Chn) 70 69 78
218 J Palmer (Eng) 71 71 76
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
WITH ANOTHER ABU DHABI VICTORY
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Martin Kaymer, pictured in action today, courtesy of Getty Images(c), is on the verge of joining an elite band of golfers to win the same event four or more times in their career, as he streaked six strokes clear of the second placed Thomas Pieters at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.
Two birdies to start the third round saw the German pick up where he left off the previous day, with a further five gains following on Saturday to see him card a seven under par 65, and pull within four shots of his own tournament scoring record of 24 under par.
Were the reigning US Open champion to hold on for a fourth title at Abu Dhabi Golf Club, then Kaymer would join a group that includes Seve Ballesteros, Sir Nick Faldo, Miguel Angel Jiménez, Bernhard Langer, Mark McNulty, Tom Watson and Tiger Woods in having won the same European Tour event on at least four occasions.
His playing partner Pieters was afforded a front row seat to the German’s excellence on Moving Day in the desert, but the 22 year old Belgian proved his undoubted talent en route to a two under par round of 70 to finish 14 under par.
He is a stroke clear of two-time European Tour winners Alexander Levy and Bernd Wiesberger, who fired rounds of 67 and 66, respectively, to be in with a chance of victory, were Kaymer to falter.
World Number One Rory McIlroy heads a trio in a tie for fifth at 12 under thanks to a 71 on Saturday, and will start the final day on the leaderboard alongside South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel, who signed for a 65 with his wife Rosalind on the bag, as well as Gary Stal of France, who shot a 67.
Further down the field, US Ryder Cup star Rickie Fowler is in a tie for 67th after a one over par 73.
QUOTES
Martin Kaymer (-20)
“I'm not scared of leading a golf tournament. I really enjoy the challenge, because it's a challenge against yourself. You challenge yourself all day long and it's about really trying to minimise the mistakes and the bogeys, and fortunately I did that yesterday and again today.
“The (scoring) record is not that interesting for me to be honest. To me the most important thing is that I win the golf tournament; if it’s by one shot, by six shots or by ten shots, I don’t really care, just as long as I win.”
Thomas Pieters (-14)
“Not much happened, but give credit to Martin, he played a really, really good round of golf and didn't really make any mistakes, so credit to him.
“I've just got to do the same thing tomorrow and hopefully the putts drop, but he played great. I thought I drove it well today too, but just didn't really take advantage of my chances and I didn't really hit it close enough to the hole. Tomorrow I just need to go as low as I can.”
Rory McIlroy (-12)
“I can't really fault my game from tee to green, but I just couldn't hole anything at all. I made a couple but I struggled to read them, struggled with the pace. Because of that, it wasn’t good enough and, realistically, it looks like I'm playing for second place tomorrow.”
SCOTSWATCH: Paul Lawrie had eight birdies and a double-bogey 7 at the long seventh on his third-round card of a five-under-par 67. The 1999 Open champion is now T26 on eight-under 208 - 12 shots behind leader Kaymer. Craig Lee had a 70 for 211 and T45 position but David Drysdale drifted to a 74 for 215 and T67 position.
Scores after round three:
par 216 (3x72)
196 M Kaymer (Ger) 64 67 65
202 T Pieters (Bel) 65 67 70
203 A Levy (Fra) 66 70 67, B Wiesberger (Aut) 72 65 66
204 G Stal (Fra) 68 69 67, C Schwartzel (RSA) 71 68 65, R McIlroy (NIr) 67 66 71
205 V Dubuisson (Fra) 69 72 64, J Donaldson (Wal) 73 67 65, D Van Der Walt (RSA) 70 70 65, P Uihlein (USA) 67 68 70
206 G Bourdy (Fra) 66 74 66, M Madsen (Den) 68 69 69, M Jiménez (Esp) 72 67 67, E Pepperell (Eng) 70 68 68
207 R Green (Aus) 68 68 71, M Fraser (Aus) 72 68 67, R Karlsson (Swe) 67 71 69, B An (Kor) 67 75 65, A Wall (Eng) 70 71 66, J Morrison (Eng) 68 67 72, N Fasth (Swe) 69 70 68, B Grace (RSA) 66 74 67, T Hatton (Eng) 66 71 70, S Webster (Eng) 73 67 67
208 P Lawrie (Sco) 68 73 67, S Hansen (Den) 69 69 70, E Grillo (Arg) 70 70 68, O Wilson (Eng) 71 71 66
209 M Kieffer (Ger) 70 71 68, R Fisher (Eng) 71 69 69, A Hansen (Den) 68 73 68, O Fisher (Eng) 69 70 70, A Sullivan (Eng) 71 71 67, S Benson (Eng) 69 73 67, M Ilonen (Fin) 66 75 68, G Coetzee (RSA) 68 73 68, Y Yang (Kor) 70 70 69, R Jacquelin (Fra) 69 71 69, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 69 69 71
210 A Noren (Swe) 67 75 68, S Hend (Aus) 70 70 70, K Broberg (Swe) 69 71 70, A Cañizares (Esp) 69 70 71
211 C Lee (Sco) 73 68 70, R Sterne (RSA) 71 70 70, E Els (RSA) 70 72 69, K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 72 67 72, D McGrane (Irl) 71 69 71, J Rose (Eng) 73 69 69, N Colsaerts (Bel) 68 71 72, A Johnston (Eng) 73 68 70, J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 70 71 70
212 B Dredge (Wal) 72 70 70, J Singh (Ind) 68 73 71, R Paratore (Ita) 70 69 73, A Lahiri (Ind) 72 68 72, D Willett (Eng) 70 71 71, R Rock (Eng) 69 73 70, S Khan (Eng) 73 67 72
213 J Carlsson (Swe) 70 72 71, M Nixon (Eng) 68 71 74
214 R Bland (Eng) 69 73 72, T Olesen (Den) 72 69 73, J Kruger (RSA) 74 68 72, O Farr (Wal) 73 69 72
215 D Drysdale (Sco) 70 71 74, R Fowler (USA) 67 75 73
217 G Tian-Lang (Chn) 70 69 78
218 J Palmer (Eng) 71 71 76
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Labels: EUROPEAN TOUR
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Saturday, January 17, 2015
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