European Tour : AVIV Dubai Championship Leaderboard
europeantour.com: Joachim B. Hansen and Francesco Laporta will share the lead heading into the final round of the 2021 AVIV Dubai Championship after matching rounds of 67 on day three at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
Joachim Hansen
The duo entered the weekend one shot off the lead but both made three birdies on the front nine over the Fire Course to turn in a share of top spot with defending champion Antoine Rozner.
Both men held the lead on their own at times on the back nine but when the final putt of the day fell they could not be separated at 19 under.
Frenchman Rozner was a shot off the lead after a 69, one shot clear of Finn Kalle Samooja, who signed for 68.
England's Tommy Fleetwood and Australian Min Woo Lee were then at 16 under, a shot clear of Thai Jazz Janewattananond, two time Major Champion Martin Kaymer and Austrian Bernd Wiesberger.
Dane Hansen saw his bogey free run end at 61 holes in round three but put on a long game masterclass just nine days short of the first anniversary of his maiden European Tour victory at the Joburg Open.
He arrived in Dubai 85th in the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex but is aiming for the top 51 and a third consecutive appearance in the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, as well as potentially making it four Danish wins in the last ten European Tour events.
"It was very good from tee to green, the best I've ever played from tee to green," he said. "Missed a lot of good chances in the beginning and a few on the back nine. All in all five under is a good score but it could have been a lot better.
"I'm looking forward to tomorrow. There is a lot of chances out there so just stay patient and see what happens."
Italian Laporta finished in a tie for second at this event last season and is 42 under for his seven rounds over the past two seasons.
While that result was his only top ten on the 2020 Race to Dubai after finishing top of the European Challenge Tour Rankings in 2019, the 31-year-old has four this term as he looks for his first European Tour victory.
“It was a good day, it was a good fight with the other guys," he said. "It wasn’t easy this afternoon, it was pretty windy and the greens were getting firmer so I’m really happy with my score.
“It’s obviously the third round and we were all in contention so there was more pressure than the other two days. It was more windy so it was the toughest day of the week.
“My game is pretty good actually. I didn’t hit the irons very solid like the other two days, so we’re going to work on that this afternoon on the range."
Jazz Janewattananond also closed with three birdies to take his total to nine in a 63 that is his lowest European Tour round, while German Kaymer and Wiesbeger both dropped a single shot in rounds of 65 and 68 respectively.
Pole Adrian Meronk matched Janewattananond with a lowest ever European Tour round of 63 to sit at 14 under alongside English pair Paul Casey and Paul Waring, American Sean Crocker, 2020 Ryder Cup Captain Pádraig Harrington and Italy's Edoardo Molinari
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