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DOHA - Overnight leader Johan Edfors of Sweden hit a three-under-par 69 to give himself a one-stroke lead over Scotland's Andrew Coltart going into Sunday's final round of the Qatar Masters.
Edfors, who played steady golf in the first two rounds with scores of 69 and 66 on the Doha Golf Club course, continued in the same vein with a four-birdie round of 69 on Saturday, dropping just one shot on the eighth, for a total of 12-under 204.
"I feel pretty happy with my game. I've played pretty solid on the front nine today and then had a little slump there at the end, really sort of crawling into the scorer's hut," Edfors said.
"But I'm happy with the way I have played and I will need a low score tomorrow."
The best scores of the day came from Coltart, winner of the inaugural edition in 1998, and Australian Adam Scott, also a former winner, who both had seven-under 65s.
Coltart's nine-birdie blitz, with two bogeys, catapulted him to the second place, one stroke ahead of South African Charl Schwartzel and Sweden's Henrik Stenson, who are tied for third with 10-under 206.
Coltart, who had a share of 11th place after the second round, struck a purple patch early on, sinking three birdies on the first four holes. He dropped a shot on the fifth but picked up another birdie on the ninth and sank five more on the back nine where he dropped just one shot on the 14th.
"Obviously, I've played nicely the last few days," Coltart said. "I've hit a lot of really good shots, so I'm happy."
Scott recovered from his slump in form in the second round, where he went one over, and had a seven-birdie round on Saturday.
"It took me a while to get going and I didn't have any rhythm on the front nine but managed to get it around and made a couple of good saves," Scott said.
Schwartzel also had a steady round, with five birdies and two bogeys for a three-under 69 to go with his 70 and 67 in the first and second rounds while Stenson put up a vastly improved display on Saturday to fire a five-under 67.
Scott shares fifth place with England's Ross McGowan and South African Anton Haig, all on nine-under 207.
- REUTERS
