DP WORLD TOUR : Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship Weather Leaderboard
Aaron Rai will take a narrow one-shot lead into the final round of the 2025 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship as he goes in search of his first DP World Tour title in five years.
The Englishman shared the halfway lead with countryman Tommy Fleetwood on 14 under par but put his foot to the floor in perfect scoring conditions on Saturday to hit the front on his own.
Rai turned in 31 after picking up five shots on the front nine before adding further birdies at the 11th and 14th, with his only bogey of the day coming on the 17th.
He had led by three during the closing stages of his round but a late bogey and strong finishes from the chasing pack ate into his advantage.
His third-round 66 sees him go into Sunday's fourth round on -20, one clear of nearest challengers Fleetwood and Nicolai Højgaard.
Two-time former champion Fleetwood made an eagle and three birdies in his flawless 67, while Højgaard's 65 featured eight birdies and one bogey. Nacho Elvira was another shot further back on -18 after his birdie-birdie finish.
Rai, who already has one Rolex Series win to his name, knows how big an achievement it would be to get another on Sunday.
He said: "This is a huge event. This is one of the biggest events we have on the DP World Tour. To win this week, to have a chance going into the weekend, is great.
"Still a long way to go and a lot of really good players. Yeah, we'll give it our best and see how it comes."
Speaking about his day's work, Rai added: "A really good round overall. Drove it extremely well. Some really good iron play. Created a lot of chances.
"I felt like I rolled it really well on the greens. A lot of putts had a good chance of going in.
"The wind definitely picked up for us on the back nine. Yeah, it played tricky out there, especially the back nine."
Tommy Fleetwood said "these are the times of our lives" after continuing his fine recent form with a third-round 67 to sit one shot off the lead ahead of the final round of the 2025 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
The Englishman is enjoying a spectacular year, having ended his long wait for a first PGA TOUR title at the Tour Championship to capture the FedExCup in August, played a key role in Europe's historic away Ryder Cup victory at Bethpage Black in September and won the DP World India Championship last month.
And he has a chance to add another big victory to that collection on Sunday as he bids to become a three-time winner of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
He said: "I've been saying the whole time, I'm playing very good golf at the moment, and I've found myself in this position a lot throughout the summer, but never take it for granted.
"This is what we practise for. These are the times of our lives, and I'm enjoying it very much.
"Great to get in the last group which is where we all want to be and I'm one of the lucky ones to do it tomorrow. Hopefully I just continue to do great things and the right things and see where we finish at the end of the day."
europeantour.com
Bryan Angus
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