New Zealander Ryan Fox kept himself on course for a wire-to-wire victory as he opened up a commanding six-shot lead heading into the final round of the Ras Al Khaimah Classic.
The 35-year-old had extended a two-shot lead to three on day two and he doubled it with a third-round 65 to put himself in pole position for a second victory on the DP World Tour.
Fox was at 19 under, with Scotland's Scott Jamieson among the group at 13 under after a 65 of his own.
The leader’s previous win on a top-tier tour came at the ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth – an event combining stroke play and match play – in 2019, and he was fully aware the expectation would be on him as he seeks a win in 72-hole stroke play.
“I’ve put myself exactly where I want to be and it’s that cliche, it’s all on me tomorrow,” said Fox, the son of former New Zealand outhalf Grant.
“Somebody is going to have to go out and shoot something really low or I’m going to have to play poorly so hopefully I can keep playing how I’ve played the last couple of days and put it out of reach.
“For the most part everything has worked, which is kind of rare for me, to be honest, I’ve always had something for the week that hasn’t worked. Hopefully I can keep that going for one more day.”
Fox made nine birdies and two bogeys in round three, while Jamieson was bogey-free as he continued the form that has put him in the top 20 of the early DP World Tour rankings.
“Everything has been really solid,” he said. “At the end of last year the driver got an awful lot better and when you are in play a couple of times rather than being out of play, it means you might have a couple more birdie chances instead of fighting to make par.
“So that’s probably made a big difference and the short game and the rest of the game has stayed pretty strong. I’m happy. It’s in a good place.”
Spanish duo Adri Arnaus and Pablo Larrazabal and Pole Adrian Meronk were alongside Jamieson at 13 under, one clear of Scot Robert MacIntyre.
Leaderboard
British and Irish unless stated, par 72:
197 Ryan Fox (Nzl) 63 69 65
203 Pablo Larrazabal (Esp) 68 67 68, Adria Arnaus (Esp) 70 67 66, Adrian Meronk (Pol) 71 68 64, Scott Jamieson 72 66 65
204 Robert MacIntyre 66 70 68, Masahiro Kawamura (Jpn) 68 68 68, Marcel Siem (Ger) 71 69 64
205 Marcus Armitage 67 72 66, Jason Scrivener (Aus) 66 69 70, Matthieu Pavon (Fra) 68 70 67, Jazz Janewattananond (Tha) 67 70 68, George Coetzee (Rsa) 70 68 67, Connor Syme 69 67 69, Ross Fisher 70 69 66, Marcus Helligkilde (Den) 72 66 67
206 Sebastian Soederberg (Swe) 66 71 69, Alexander Bjoerk (Swe) 67 69 70, David Law 69 69 68, Frederic Lacroix (Fra) 73 67 66
207 Rasmus Hoejgaard (Den) 69 68 70, Thriston Lawrence (Rsa) 72 68 67, Laurie Canter 69 68 70, Maximilian Kieffer (Ger) 68 68 71, Julien Guerrier (Fra) 68 69 70, Oliver Bekker (Rsa) 73 62 72, Zander Lombard (Rsa) 72 63 72
208 Richard Bland 66 71 71, Justin Harding (Rsa) 68 67 73, Haotong Li (Chn) 69 71 68, James Morrison 69 72 67, Fabrizio Zanotti (Pry) 72 67 69, Joost Luiten (Ned) 66 72 70, Lukas Nemecz (Aut) 69 69 70, Hurly Long (Ger) 67 70 71, Oliver Farr 67 72 69
209 Brandon Stone (Rsa) 67 73 69, Sami Valimaki (Fin) 73 65 71, Kristoffer Broberg (Swe) 69 71 69, Daniel van Tonder (Rsa) 70 68 71, Shaun Norris (Rsa) 67 72 70,Francesco Laporta (Ita) 66 69 74, Tapio Pulkkanen (Fin) 70 67 72, Richie Ramsay 69 70 70, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 69 68 72, Maverick Antcliff (Aus) 67 70 72, Callum Shinkwin 72 69 68, Justin Walters (Rsa) 68 71 70, David Drysdale 66 71 72, Yannik Paul (Ger) 66 71 72, Craig Howie 67 72 70, Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 69 68 72
210 Shergo Al Kurdi (Jor) 68 68 74, Rikard Karlberg (Swe) 71 68 71, Wil Besseling (Ned) 70 70 70, Espen Kofstad (Nor) 71 68 71, Niklas Noergaard Moeller (Den) 69 71 70, Andrew Wilson 66 72 72
211 Jorge Campillo (Esp) 71 69 71, Ashun Wu (Chn) 70 71 70, Thomas Detry (Bel) 70 70 71, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 71 67 73, Adrian Otaegui (Esp) 69 68 74, Matthew Jordan 69 72 70, Darius van Driel (Ned) 71 69 71, Robert Rock 69 72 70, Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind) 70 67 74
212 Marcus Kinhult (Swe) 70 71 71, Nino Bertasio (Ita) 72 69 71, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 69 72 71
213 Hugo Leon (Chi) 69 71 73
214 Joakim Lagergren (Swe) 71 68 75, Sebastian Heisele (Ger) 70 71 73
215 Jordan Smith 72 69 74, Daan Huizing (Ned) 71 70 74
216 Oliver Fisher 72 69 75
