Scott Jamieson only one shot off the pace in

Oman Open with 18 holes to go

Round Three Report

Fabrizio Zanotti will go in search of his third European Tour title as he takes a one stroke lead into Sunday's final round of the Oman Open.

The Paraguayan, who last won at the 2017 Maybank Championship, returned to Al Mouj Golf on Sunday morning to complete his third round. All but 11 players were forced to complete their second rounds on Saturday due to delays brought on by a sandstorm and high winds on the Gulf of Oman on Friday, beginning their third rounds immediately afterwards.

Zanotti made four gains on the back nine of the Greg Norman-designed lay-out, including a birdie on the 18th hole, taking a one stroke lead over Scott Jamieson after a four under par round of 68.

Jamieson, whose last title came in 2013, had a run of eight birdies in 13 holes during his third round, eventually recording a six under par 66 to take solo second place, one stroke ahead of Joachim B. Hanson and Maximilian Kieffer in third.

2012 Ryder Cup player Peter Hanson recorded his best round since last year’s D+D REAL Czech Masters, a six under par 66, as he moved up to a share of fifth place alongside Jorge Campillo and Kurt Kitayama on five under.

Kitayama was six over par after three holes before Saturday’s suspension, but played the remaining 15 holes of his third round this morning seven under par, signing for a one under par 71.

Competitors started their final rounds no sooner than 30 minutes after recording their third round scores - there has been no redraw.

Player Quotes

Fabrizio Zanotti: “I’m feeling good and sticking to my plan, going shot by shot. The golf course will play very tough this afternoon so I need to be patient.

“I need to try and do my best, and there’s nothing else I can do. The wind wasn’t too difficult this morning when we started, but as we went through the round it started getting tougher.”

Scott Jamieson: “I didn’t particularly enjoy yesterday, it wasn’t much fun. So it was nice to get back out with 12 holes to play this morning, and it was nice to capitalize when conditions were a little easier.

“The leaderboard was really bunched, so it was key to make a fast start and move into a nice position.”

Peter Hanson: “I can’t really remember the last time I shot in the 60s. My game is coming together well and a lot of things I’m working on are coming together. I need to build on this and not try and focus too much on the result, just keep working on the stuff I’ve been doing over the last few weeks and see what happens.

“I’ve been a little bit slow getting out of the blocks but finishing better. Yesterday I wasn’t swinging it great with a couple of loose shots on the first few holes. But I finished with two great birdies on 17 and 18. It would have been nice to have a more solid start, but when you’re working on technical stuff it’s difficult to build that trust and take that through a round.”

Kurt Kitayama: “After that start I wanted to get off that golf course and regroup for today. I was glad of the fresh start this morning, I birdied my first hole and then had a great comeback today, so it feels pretty good.

“I need to try and keep this momentum going.”

Scores after round three:
208 F Zanotti (Par) 71 69 68,
209 S Jamieson (Sco) 67 76 66,
210 P Hanson (Swe) 71 73 66, M Kieffer (Ger) 69 70 71, J Hansen (Den) 70 69 71,
211 K Kitayama (USA) 66 74 71,
212 G Bhullar (Ind) 71 69 72, H Tanihara (Jpn) 70 72 70, C Paisley (Eng) 71 72 69, C Sordet (Fra) 71 71 70, S Soderberg (Swe) 72 72 68, T Pieters (Bel) 68 75 69,
213 J Campillo (Esp) 69 78 66, E Kofstad (Nor) 72 70 71, G Moynihan (Irl) 69 73 71, B Hebert (Fra) 70 72 71,
214 D Horsey (Eng) 68 76 70, J Luiten (Ned) 69 77 68, V Dubuisson (Fra) 72 70 72, S Crocker (USA) 72 72 70, H Leon (Chi) 71 71 72,
215 R Macintyre (Sco) 71 74 70, J Winther (Den) 73 73 69, A Chesters (Eng) 73 74 68,
216 A Saddier (Fra) 68 76 72, D Drysdale (Sco) 70 76 70, M Schmitt (Ger) 71 73 72, M Baldwin (Eng) 70 75 71,
217 J Smith (Eng) 71 76 70, D Lawson (Aus) 72 72 73, N Bertasio (Ita) 72 73 72, T Aiken (RSA) 75 73 69,
218 M Kawamura (Jpn) 73 71 74, R McEvoy (Eng) 72 74 72, J Walters (RSA) 73 73 72, A Arnaus (Esp) 70 78 70, Z Lombard (RSA) 72 75 71, F Bergamaschi (Ita) 72 74 72, S Hend (Aus) 73 74 71, L De Jager (RSA) 71 77 70, D Fichardt (RSA) 75 73 70, R Langasque (Fra) 72 75 71, T Jaidee (Tha) 71 72 75, N Cullen (Aus) 72 76 70,
219 T Detry (Bel) 70 73 76, R Jacquelin (Fra) 68 79 72, M Korhonen (Fin) 70 78 71, G Migliozzi (Ita) 73 73 73, N Colsaerts (Bel) 72 76 71, S Vincent (Zim) 68 80 71, O Wilson (Eng) 72 74 73,
220 M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 70 75 75, D Borda (Esp) 72 74 74, J Wang (Kor) 77 71 72, B Dredge (Wal) 74 72 74, B Stone (RSA) 70 70 80, J Choi (Kor) 73 73 74,
221 J Catlin (USA) 76 72 73, Y Miyazato (Jpn) 67 79 75, V Perez (Fra) 73 75 73, M Manassero (Ita) 72 76 73, S Sharma (IndIA) 72 74 75,
222 A Sullivan (Eng) 72 75 75, P Dunne (Ire) 74 74 74, J Van Zyl (RSA) 75 73 74, A Pavan (Ita) 71 75 76,
223 J Morrison (Eng) 72 76 75, C Bezuidenhout (RSA) 70 78 75, M Southgate (Eng) 75 70 78,
224 P Figueiredo (Por) 71 77 76,
226 A Wu (Chn) 76 71 79,