European Tour: AVIV Dubai Championship Leaderboard
europeantour.com: Antoine Rozner birdied five of his last six holes as he continued his love affair with the Fire Course to take a one shot lead into the weekend at the 2021 AVIV Dubai Championship.
The defending champion stayed bogey free through 36 holes with a 64 to get to 15 under and take his score over six rounds at this event to 40 under.
Overnight leader Joachim B. Hansen also stayed bogey free for the week with a 67 to sit a shot back alongside Italian Francesco Laporta, who matched Rozner with a 64.
Finn Kalle Samooja made six birdies in a row and seven in his last eight holes in a 64 that left him at 13 under, a shot ahead of English pair Tommy Fleetwood and Paul Waring.
Frenchman Rozner won his maiden European Tour title in the inaugural staging of this event just under 12 months ago at Jumeirah Golf Estates and has since added another in the Middle East at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.
He also famously beat Major Champion Bryson DeChambeau at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play and while he has not recorded a top ten since his victory in Qatar, he has found his form again on a very happy hunting ground.
"I think I was playing really well even on the front nine," he said. "A few putts didn't drop but I just kept putting myself in good positions hole after hole and a few putts actually dropped on the back nine so that's great.
"It was definitely one of my best ball striking rounds out here this year and last year so I'm very happy with my round. The long game was just absolutely perfect, I was striking it shot after shot.
"It's not that easy, you still have to play well, hit good shots, make some putts. I'm not the only one who's playing well as well so you've just got to keep grinding for the next two days.
"You have to be over aggressive over and over and I did that really well last year. Obviously I can use that experience from last year, I think that's helping me because last year I was so aggressive over four rounds and I think it's paying off again this week.
"If I can keep doing what I'm doing for the next two days hopefully there will be a good result in there."
Fleetwood overcame an early bogey with seven birdies in a 66, while Waring had a bogey and a double on his card but recorded a 67.
South African Dean Burmester, American Sean Crocker, Frenchman Robin Roussel and Austrian Bernd Wiesbrger were four shots off the lead
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