May 27, 2017: The elite field gathered for the first ever Rolex Series event had been treated to glorious sunshine and calm winds over days one and two and while the sun continued to shine on the revamped West Course, increased gusts made it a different proposition.
Dodt’s 70-70 start had left him in the middle of the pack heading into the weekend but as many of those around him stood still or went the wrong way, the Australian fired a four under par effort to get to eight under and lead the way from South African Branden Grace.
Italian Francesco Molinari and England’s Lee Westwood were then at five under, a shot clear of Ireland’s Shane Lowry, Swede Henrik Stenson and Japanese Hideto Tanihara.
Dodt has two European Tour wins to his name – both coming in Asia – and enjoyed an excellent start to the season with back-to-back top threes before the turn of the year.
Victory on Sunday would represent the biggest win of his career but Grace will provide a stiff challenge as he goes in search of a eighth European Tour triumph, having won seven of the ten times he has been within two shots heading into round four.
“It’s going to be tough out there,” said Dodt. “There will be a few nerves, a lot of nerves there. I’ve just got to try to do what I’ve been doing the last three days and if I can do that, I can give myself a chance.
“I had a few chances early on I didn’t quite take and then just played a solid back nine and it got a little bit tricky with the wind. Overall, it was just a really, really solid day.
“I feel good. My game feels good. I feel like I’m in a really good spot.”
Dodt bogeyed the par five fourth but came roaring back with gains on the eighth, 11th and 12th. Another followed on the 14th and when he found the fringe on the par five 17th and got down in two, he was the man to catch.
European Tour Release
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