Westwood in command as he takes the lead on day 3 of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic

On moving day, as Saturday is traditionally referred to, nobody moved more noticeably than Lee Westwood who wiped out a three-shot deficit to move atop the leaderboard going into the final round of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic at the Emirates Golf Club.

The world number four, lying tied seventh overnight, shot a solid 67 to move to 15 under for the tournament, one shot ahead of Germany’s Macel Siem, Stephen Gallacher of Scotland and first-round leader Rafel Cabrera-Bello of Spain.

Joint overnight leader Rory McIlroy was “pretty ragged” by his own admission and slipped to tied fifth after third-round level-par score, joining world number four Martin Kaymer, Joel Sjoholm of Sweden and Scott Jamieson of Scotland in a group at 13 under after 54 holes.

Seasoned Thomas Bjorn, who shared the overnight lead with McIlroy, also faltered like the Ulsterman, managing a head-scratching 73 and dropping to tied ninth at 12 under.
With just three shots separating the top 11, the final day’s proceedings, as the tradition of the $2.5 million European Tour event dictates, promises to unfold an exciting finish, though in-form Westwood looks set to close out what would be first win here.

But the world number three is under no illusion about the daunting task that lies ahead. “It’s a tightly-packed leaderboard with a lot of good players up there. I will try and shoot the lowest score of the day rather than go out and try to win a golf tournament,” the Englishman said.

“The wind tomorrow is, hopefully, to blow a bit – and that might dictate the scoring a little bit,” said the 38-year-old Worksop golfer, who boasts two runner-up finishes in this event since making his first appearance in 1994.
“I have played well on this (Majlis) course and my scoring average is pretty good. Hopefully, one of these days I will win the tournament.”
Unlike Westwood, McIlroy struggled a bit on course and just failed to find the magic touch that put him on top after the first two rounds.

“It was pretty ragged to say the least,” he conceded. “I think the conditions were a little tougher, the wind got up, and I had not really played in wind like that all week, so that sort of put me off a little bit, and the greens got a little firmer, pin positions were a little tougher.

“It definitely didn’t come as easy to me as it did the first couple of days. I’m going to go to the range and work on a few things, and see if I can iron it out for tomorrow,” said the 2009 Omega Dubai Desert Classic champion.
Meanwhile, Sweden’s Sjoholm shot another 66 – the best round of the day — to storm into contention for the title. “I pulled something out of my hat yesterday. Today I played better golf from tee to green and made some good putts out there,” said the Swede, who is chasing a maiden European Tour victory.

“My putting has been really good this week. It was quite bad actually on the first day, but great yesterday and great today. I’m just hoping that tomorrow is going to be one of my great putting days.”
Germany’s Kaymer, who finished runner-up to Tiger Woods here in 2008, sounded upbeat about producing a much better performance in the final round. “I played fine. I wasn’t as good as I was in the first two rounds, but I am feeling pretty confident with my swing.

“If I can be a little bit lucky tomorrow, I think I can shoot a good score,” said Kaymer after posting a 70.
Gallacher, who aced the difficult par-3, 15th on the opening day, has another good day at work. “I am in a good position and looking forward to it,” said the Scot who wasn’t surprised to see his on the leaderboard.
“Nothing surprises me in this game. There’s no right or wrong. You’ve just got to go out and try to do as well as you can every week.”