Kaymer in cruise control after round 3 of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship
Martin Kaymer widened his lead to six strokes at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship today – and put himself on track for a new Championship record. The three-time Abu Dhabi Champion served up another outstanding round, finishing seven-under for the day and a massive 20-under over the first three days, to keep well in control of the 10th anniversary Championship. His birdie-birdie start showed he meant business, and he kept it rolling all day with a bogey-free 18. His shot of the round, holing from the greenside bunker on the 10th to save par, showed this was a day everything was going his way.
The German maestro will be confident of raising the Falcon Trophy for the fourth time – and will also have an eye on his own Championship record of 24-under, set in 2011.
“Hopefully I can stay in the 20s,” Kaymer said. “That’s the first goal. I don’t really think about the record. If I shoot another good score tomorrow, fair enough, and then most likely I will win the golf tournament. If not, hopefully it’s going to be enough.
“I just really enjoy the golf course and the way I played golf over the last three days, it was very solid, I didn’t make many mistakes, only two bogeys and that was the first round.”
The thousands of fans lining the fairways of The National course in the Abu Dhabi sunshine were treated to a birdie-fest, as 55 players posted sub-par rounds and 34 scored in the sixties.
But the two who matter most as far as Kaymer was concerned could not keep up with the pace.
Thomas Pieters started with two birdies in the first three holes, but then stalled. A birdie on the 9th was the only other highlight before a bogey on 17 put him back to 14-under.
“On the front nine I was playing really good,” Pieters said. “I gave myself a bunch of chances and on the back nine, I struggled a little bit. If you hit it off‑line just a couple of times and hit it in the thick rough, you’re not going to have a chance to go at the flag.”
Rory McIlroy hit all but two fairways and one green – but then missed putt after putt on the way to a frustrating 71, leaving him eight behind the leader.
“I just didn’t putt well at all,” the world number one said. “I didn’t really putt well yesterday to be honest, so I’m very disappointed.
“I’m going to have to do something a bit better on the greens tomorrow to shoot a good number and finish the tournament off well.”
Bern Wiesberger, Alexander Levy, Charl Schwartzel, Gary Stal, Victor Dubuisson, Jamie Donaldson and Dawie Van Der Walt all posted rounds of five-under or better to finish the day in the top 10 of the leaderboard.
Fans were treated to another hole-in-one, the fourth of the tournament. Korean Byeong-Hun An scored an ace on 15. Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA) has started a social media campaign to ask fans for suggestions for what the players could win for their successes.
Away from the golf course, the Championship Village was awash with red as fans celebrated ‘Splash of Red Day’ in style, donning red T-shirts, trousers and caps to claim free entry for the day. Trick shot extraordinaire Jeremy Dale also wowed fans with two entertaining demonstrations of incredible skill. The Englishman’s display of draws, fades and sky-high slices drew crowds of hundreds to the driving range whilst True Aussie Lamb and Weber Grills dished up delicious cuts of Lamb and Beef throughout the day.
The day belonged, though, to Kaymer. The ice-cool German will sleep tonight knowing another round in the 60s will all but guarantee him the Falcon Trophy for the fourth time – and a special place in the Abu Dhabi history books.
The Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship 2015 is presented by Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) and runs at Abu Dhabi Golf Club until 18 January. Tickets and are still available via the event’s official website – www.abudhabigolfchampionship.com at AED50 for a daily pass. Guests staying at any Abu Dhabi hotel over the Championship period enter free.
