Li Haotong will go in search of a fourth DP World Tour title when he takes a two-stroke lead into the final round of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.
The Chinese carded a five-under-par round of 67 to reach 13 under after three rounds at Doha Golf Club and holds his first 54-hole lead since he claimed his last DP World Tour victory at the 2022 BMW International Open.
He started the day two strokes behind Englishman Brandon Robinson Thompson, but immediately drew level with birdies on the first and second holes.
A third gain followed before the turn at the seventh and the 29-year-old finished with a flourish after carding further birdies on the 16th and 17th holes to sign for his 67.
Li Haotong: It felt not easy definitely. An opposite wind compared to the last two days. I holed some moments and par putts, especially the one on ten. Overall I’m very pleased.
(Two opening birdies) definitely released a lot of pressure from that position. Especially with my driver being a little bit off today. I didn’t hit as many fairways as yesterday, I just need to create more chances tomorrow.
So far this year my approach play has been really solid. I just need to keep the momentum going.
I didn’t look at the leaderboard at all until number ten. Then I saw I was leading and I thought ‘okay’. It felt like a strange feeling. It’s been a while. Hopefully I can continue the momentum going into the final round.
Robinson Thompson carded a one-under-par round of 71 to stay within reach of Li. The 32-year-old was one over par after 15 holes with a bogey on the par four sixth and 14 pars on his card.
But he also found momentum on the closing stretch as he also birdied the 16th and then closed the gap as he birdied the 18th for an 11 under-par total.
This is the second week in a row Robinson Thompson has found himself in the final group on Sunday, as he eventually finished in a share of eighth at last week’s Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship.
Brandon Robinson Thompson: It was a bit of a slow start, honestly. Again the wind was up, pins were tucked a little bit and I kept hitting them to 30 or 40 feet. I kept giving myself chances but not close enough.
What was most impressive was how patient me and Rich (caddie) stayed. We said it all the way around, it was one of those days where I wasn’t quite hitting it close enough but I was hitting it on the right sides and making pars.
You never know on this golf course, especially with this wind direction. You can always finish hot and luckily I picked up two towards the end there.
In a share of third on nine under par are Matthew Jordan of England and South Africa’s Jayden Schaper, and one stroke further back on eight under are Frenchman Martin Couvra, MK Kim of South Korea and Dane Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen.
