Matthew Southgate holds share of the lead in Oman Open
England's Matthew Southgate will enter the final round of the NBO Oman Open in a three-way tie for the lead as he goes in search of his first European Tour title.
Southgate carded seven birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey in a mixed third round to join Dutchman Joost Luiten and Frenchman Julien Guerrier on 12 under par after they produced matching 66s.
Englishman Chris Wood was another stroke back in fourth place, one shot ahead of Spain's Adrian Otaegui on 10 under.
Southgate began the day two shots behind halfway leader Matthieu Pavon but soon set about closing the gap, opening his third round with three straight birdies to climb to 12 under.
After dropping shots at the fourth and sixth, Southgate carded a double bogey on the seventh before finishing his front nine with a birdie to reach the turn in 36.
Southgate then notched birdies at the 11th, 12th and 18th to sign for a 69 and grab a share of the lead.
"The birdie at nine was big," Southgate told www.europeantour.com. "It takes a big heart to hit shots like that because a part of you wants to go and hide in a corner and cry.
"People say to you, 'keep going', but I'm not going to walk in! You can do two things, you can hide behind your caddie and sulk and knock it around in level or over par, or you can take it on the chin, rise up to the challenge and try to hit good golf shots.
"That's something I'm really of proud of having done today because it's very hard to get out there and keep going but that was definitely a turning point at nine."
