Oliver Fisher and Eddie Pepperell set up a thrilling final day of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters after an enthralling third round at Doha Golf Club saw them tied at the top of the leaderboard.
The prestigious event, which is being broadcast around the world to global household reach of over 518 million, is showcasing sporting action at its finest in Qatar and day three produced another captivating spectacle.
Pepperell took a share of top spot on the first hole and maintained that position until Fisher finished with four birdies in a row to card a 65 and set the clubhouse target at 16 under.
Fellow Englishman Pepperell then fought back with gains on the 16th and 18th in his 66 to move two ahead of American Sean Crocker. Italian duo Lorenzo Gagli and Andrea Pavan, Frenchman Grégory Havret, England’s David Horsey and Swede Marcus Kinhult were then two shots further back at 12 under.
Oli Fisher’s finish: Birdie 15 – Birdie 16 – Birdie 17 – Birdie 18.
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“I’m very pleased with my day today and looking forward to tomorrow,” said Fisher, who is searching for his first win on the European Tour since the 2011 Czech Open.
“The important thing for me is to make sure I give myself enough time with things, to make sure I’m aware of what I’m doing and try and enjoy it as much as I can, I did that today. My caddie was great.
“I gave myself some chances coming in and thankfully I made them.”
Pepperell found some brilliant form at the end of 2017, securing four top fives and three top tens from his last ten events but he missed his first two cuts this season before playing the weekend in Malaysia and Oman.
The 27 year old has been working with a new coach recently and the work looks to be paying dividends as he shares the lead after 54 holes for the second time at a European Tour event in search of a first title.
“I would say that was my best round, especially with the position I was in going into the day. I hit a lot of good shots, I maybe lost a little feeling through the turn, but I bounced back nicely and I didn’t let it bother me,” said Pepperell.
“That’s a nice score on a Saturday and coming down the last few holes, certainly down the last seeing Oli on 16 under, I didn’t want to finish behind the leader so I’m happy to be at least tied.”
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Pepperell birdied the first to get to 11 under alongside overnight leader Adrian Otaegui and while that group would swell to six – with Fisher among their number after some dialled-in irons brought birdies on the third and fifth – a 15-footer on the fifth moved Pepperell ahead.
A beautiful tee-shot from Fisher saw him share the lead again but Pepperell put an approach to six feet on the seventh to get to 13 under and hold the solo lead as the final group reached the turn.
A 20-foot left-to-righter from Fisher on the 11th meant there was a tie again but the 29 year old dropped a shot on the next and with Pepperell making a tap-in birdie on the par five tenth, the lead was up to two.
It looked like it would disappear completely on the 12th when Pepperell hit the rocks with his second to leave his ball short of the green, hit a poor chip into the rocks again with his next and repeated the trick with his fourth to leave the ball at his feet. The chip-in with his fifth was almost nonchalant and he surrendered just a single stroke.
A long putt on the 13th meant he was two ahead again but a string of glorious shots saw Fisher overturn him, hitting a beautiful approach to the 15th, driving the green on the par five next and leaving himself 12 feet for birdie off the tee on the 17th.
Crocker had fallen back as he turned in level par but edged himself into contention with birdies on the 11th and 12th. A nice approach to the 15th helped him to 12 under and when he drove the green and eagled the 16th for the second day in a row, he was in a share of second.
That was soon two back, however, as Fisher completed his stunning finish with a 20-foot left-to-righter to get to 16 under.
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“It’s always a strange course because you can play okay around here and not do too much,” he said. “I felt like I missed some opportunities on the first and nine and ten, although they can play a bit tricky at times but I was really pleased to birdie 18.
“We’ve still got one round to go, a lot of golf to be played out there but I’ve certainly put myself in a good position.”
Pepperell may have had trouble with the rocks earlier but he got a fortunate bounce on the 16th and got up and down for birdie to cut the lead back to one before a nice third set up a closing birdie.
“When I saw Oli was on 16 under I said that I wanted to birdie the last,” said Pepperel, “and I’ve managed to do that so mentally I feel like I’m up for it, my game is there and it’s just going to be a case of holing putts and getting into the rhythm of the round, keep on doing what I’m doing because I’m hitting a lot of good shots.”
Horsey had started his day with an eagle but bogeyed the third before making gains on the fourth, seventh, tenth, 13th and 16th to share the lead, with a closing gain seeing him set the early target after a 65.
Gagli had also shared the lead after birdies on the second, fourth, fifth, ninth and tenth but parred his way home in a bogey-free 67.
Pavan had a birdie-birdie-birdie finish as he also posted a 67, Kinhult eagled the 16th and birdied the last en route to the same score, while Havret made a single bogey in his 70.
Spanish duo Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño and Pablo Larrazábal, English pair James Morrison and Chris Wood, Swede Joakim Lagergren, Frenchman Mike Lorenzo-Vera and Japan’s Hideto Tanihara were at 11 under.
Meanwhile local interest was piqued by MENA Golf Tour professional Josh White of England, who qualified by winning the professional division of the 2018 Qatar Open to gain his spot this week and has performed superbly. Having made the cut with rounds of 67,73, White shot an impressive third round of 69 on Saturday to sit in a share of 43rd place at seven under par heading into Sunday’s final round.
The final round gets underway at Doha Golf Club at 6.30am with the lead group of Oliver Fisher, Eddie Pepperell and Sean Crocker off at 8.30am.
