Goosen, Green, O’Hern hold on to lead in Doha
Retief Goosen, Richard Green and Nick O’Hern hold a slender lead at the top of a tightly-packed Commercialbank Qatar Masters leaderboard midway through the final round.
Goosen made a birdie on the first before carding a bogey on the fifth while Green made par on the front nine.
O’Hern birdied the second but dropped to 11 under after bogeys on the third and fifth. But a birdie on the ninth moved him back alongside the leaders.
Just one shot behind though are Stuart Appleby and Wen-Chong Liang.
The duo enjoyed a fine run on their outward nine to climb the leaderboard, Appleby carded four birdies before adding another on the 10th while Liang had made three birdies after 10 holes.
Henrik Stenson remains in contention to retain the title here but will need a much better run coming home after managing just a par 36 on his outward nine.
Ernie Els was alongside the Swede after he carded a one-under-par 35, making birdies on the first, seventh and eighth but bogeying the second and sixth.
Paul Lawrie was two shots off the lead after making par on the front nine and will be looking to make birdies coming home as he chases victory at the Doha Golf Club for the first time since 1999.
Edward Michaels, who yesterday moved into contention after carding a three under 69, endured a poor run on the front nine.
The American bogeyed the first and then shot a double bogey on the third and though he recovered to birdie the fourth, another bogey meant he carded a three over 39 and was seven under overall.
Paul McGinley made a fine start after carding four successive birdies from the first and added just one bogey on the fifth to move to eight under. However, he will need an even better run on the back nine if he is to challenge the leaders.
