ABU DHABI // With 16 players within three shots of the lead going into the final day at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, things could get rather blurred on Sunday.
Tyrrell Hatton is the man everyone is chasing, given he leads by one on 13-under, while US Open champion Dustin Johnson heads a five-man band of brothers that includes Martin Kaymer, himself a two-time major champion, not to mention a three-time winner of the event in question.
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Read more
■ Dustin Johnson: Obeys orders to surge into contention
■ Martin Kaymer: Ready to 'enjoy the challenge' of final day chase
■ Groups and tee times: Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship final round
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That quintet contains Tommy Fleetwood, too, with the talented Englishman ending years of woe in Abu Dhabi to move into contention for only a second European Tour victory. So how does he plan for getting the job done, to be the sweetest of the 16?
Head down, blinkers on.
“I’d rather it be three players within three shots, but it will be good,” Fleetwood said following a third-round 70 on Saturday. “That said, there’s a lot of players with a chance.
“Can’t really focus on that too much; just play your golf, really. If you let it get to you and you start thinking about what everybody else is doing, it will drive you mental. So just keep going.”
Tunnel vision could help him finally see the light at the end of it. Fleetwood has always laboured in Abu Dhabi, with a tied-19th in 2014 his finest finish. In fact, the other four times he has teed it up at the National Course, he has missed the cut. So, despite concluding 2016 with tied-ninth at the DP World Tour Championship, this week has kind of come out of nowhere.
“I’ve never actually done that great here,” said Fleetwood, whose Saturday highlight was a great par save on 14 after his ball had plugged in a fairway bunker. “So it’s great to be up there.
“It’s so bunched, you don’t really want to give shots away. Every shot you pick up is massive and every shot you lose seems doubly worse. It’s very tight, but just got to hang in.”
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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