DP World Tour : Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship Leaderboard
Pádraig Harrington revealed he feels more comfortable in contention as a 51-year-old than he did earlier in his career after making a huge move on day three of the 2023 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
Reigning U.S Senior Open Champion Harrington fired six birdies in a row on the back nine at Yas Links Abu Dhabi on Saturday to sign for a flawless 64 which contained eight birdies in all.
It was the Irishman's lowest DP World Tour round since his 63 on day one of the 2019 Irish Open and catapulted him up the leaderboard.
The three-time Major Champion heads into the final round on 11 under par and in a strong position to strike on Sunday, knowing a victory would make him the oldest winner in the history of the DP World Tour.
But having won his battle to make the cut on Friday after following up an opening 68 with a 73 to get through on three under par, Harrington insists he prefers the pressure of fighting at the top end of the leaderboard.
Harrington, whose last win at this level came at the 2016 Portugal Masters, said: "I hit the wall yesterday.
"I should have been up at the top of the leaderboard yesterday. The minute I started to think 'what's the cut going to be?', I just froze.
"Golf is tough when you're playing on the cut line.
"Being in contention is where you want to be and then you figure out what you need to do.
"I was in contention a lot last year. I feel comfortable hitting the shots and thinking on the shots, and in some ways better than I've ever been.
"I shot six birdies coming home there on the back nine, chasing after birdies, chasing after pins, but when I did that in my heyday I would have been quite hyped up and stressed about it.
"Today it was 'ho-hum, this is what I do'."
edit>>>> The leaders after round 3 are Min Woo Lee 68 69 66 -13 , Shane Lowry 67 70 66 -13 and Francesco Molinari 67 67 69 -13 and they are in the final group on Sunday at 11.50 local time.
The leaderboard is tightly packed with 15 players within 3 shots.
europeantour.com
Bryan Angus (edit)
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