Jordan Spieth wins race against the clock to 

complete third round in Abu Dhabi

SKYSPORTS.COM

By Keith Jackson

Jordan Spieth's adventurous debut at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship continued as he was involved in bizarre scenes at the end of the third day.

Spieth faced a race against time to complete his third round before darkness halted play following another lengthy delay due to fog, but he managed to get his final drive away just seconds before the siren sounded.
Having beaten the buzzer, the world No 1 was then able complete the ninth - his final hole - along with five other players as Spieth and his playing-partners converged with the group in front, who had stood aside to allow the Texan to tee off.

Despite the fading light, Spieth closed with a solid par-four to cap a bogey-free 68 which lifted him to seven under, just three off the lead, as well as earning him a substantial lie-in on Sunday morning.
"I've never done that before," said Spieth, who putted out with playing-partners Soren Kjeldsen and Pablo Larrazabal along with English youngsters Tyrrell Hatton and Eddie Pepperell and Thai star Kiradech Aphibarnrat in a rare "six-ball".
Spieth had arrived on the tee to find Hatton, Pepperell and Aphibarnrat still waiting to hit their drives as they were held up by leader Andy Sullivan, who endured an unsuccessful five minutes searching for his ball after an errant drive.

Sullivan was forced to head back to the tee to put a second ball in play, and the Englishman, Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau still have half of their third rounds to complete when play resumes on Sunday morning.
Spieth added: "We got up there and didn't really know if there were any rules around us, who tees off first. We let them tee off first and as I struck my shot, the horn blew.
"We were all very, very relieved to have that happen. It saved us about five-plus hours in arriving to the course tomorrow.
"It just takes away from sitting around the clubhouse for hours. I can maybe go to the gym in the morning now. I can do a little more than I would have been able to do if we were up before five. But as far as my play, I don't think it's going to affect much.
"I have not played a six-ball before. That was a first. We were asking the guys in front of us, if you guys want to, just go finish and we'll play behind you, that's the way it's supposed to be. They didn't really mind us joining them.
"Pablo just decided to go ahead and hit so we figured we may as well just hit then, plus Eddie's ball was picked up and so they had to wait a while in the fairway. They didn't care at all. They're good guys."
Spieth also hit the headlines on the first day when he was issued a "monitoring penalty" after it was deemed he took too long over a birdie putt on his penultimate hole, and he saw the irony of having to play quickly to get his third round complete in near-darkness.
"How about that?", he said. "I even asked one of the officials on the seventh green if they could give us a five-minute warning when the horn is going to blow, because it's blowing earlier than it is in the States.
"I'm just fortunate that ball got in the air. We very easily could have waited another 10 and we're standing on the ninth tee."
Spieth was understandably delighted to haul himself within three of the lead after a disappointing 73 in the second round, but he believes he needs something special on the final day to make it two wins in as many starts in 2016.
"I'm struggling with my alignment on the greens, and with my wedges, so I'm not getting those extra chances but if I have a crazy round tomorrow I have a chance," he said.