Henrik Stenson remains joint leader

Henrik Stenson retained joint lead of the DP World Tour Championship with Rafa Cabrera-Bello

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Rafa Cabrera-Bello joined Henrik Stenson in the lead in Dubai

 

Edited by Anand Datla

 

Previous Dubai winners Rafa Cabrera-Bello and Henrik Stenson will fight it out for the DP World Tour Championship after both players reached 14 under par going into the final round.

 

Spain’s Cabrera-Bello picked up his most recent European Tour victory at the Dubai Desert Classic two years ago, and a joint-best-of-the-day 65 saw him catch defending champion Stenson.  The Swede carded a flawless 68 as the pair pulled three clear of England’s Justin Rose.

 

While Stenson remained on course to achieve a personal milestone – he has never successfully defended a title in his career – Rory McIlroy’s challenge was dealt a setback with a nightmare two-hole spell.

 

The World Number One had caught Stenson at the top of the leaderboard when he carded his fourth birdie of the day on the tenth, only to run up back-to-back double bogeys on the 12th and 13th at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

 

The four-time Major winner repaired some of the damage with birdies on the 14th and 18th to card a 70 and finish alongside Victor Dubuisson, Tyrrell Hatton and Thorbjørn Olesen on 10 under, one shot behind former US Open Champion Rose.

 

Stenson felt he had “hit the wall” during the second round at the end of a long season, but admitted the prospect of winning the first prize of £830,000 and securing a bonus of £510,000 for finishing second in The Race to Dubai behind McIlroy was providing extra motivation.

 

“I felt a little stronger today but I wasn’t exactly jumping out of bed this morning,” Stenson said. “But what do you expect at 38 years old? I’m a little low on energy but when the mind wants something you can pull through.

 

“It would be great to win. It’s a great championship and it would mean a lot to defend a title and get the win. It’s been a good year but when you assess it you always look at the trophies and there hasn’t been one yet.”

 

Stenson carded four birdies in a flawless 68 but also missed two putts from inside three feet and added: “I was striking the ball better than yesterday but was not quite as hot on the greens and left a couple of shots out there.

 

“All in all it was a good day and we’re still at the races so I am pretty pleased.”

 

Like Stenson, Cabrera-Bello did not have a single bogey, and the two-time European Tour winner was delighted with a round matched only by Scotland’s Marc Warren on Saturday.

 

“Obviously it’s been a very special round for me today,” he said. “I’m really, really pleased with the score, and obviously with the good finish.

 

“The short game and putting has been unbelievable, probably the best day of my life for short game.

 

“I think that that’s what helped me hang in there on the front nine and I did play better on the back nine. I was playing more aggressive going for it, hitting good shots, and giving myself a lot of chances and I did make some of them.”

 

Rose carded a 68 alongside Cabrera-Bello and offered some high praise of his playing partner, comparing his short game to the late Seve Ballesteros.

 

“I watched an incredible round of golf today,” Rose said. “Rafa was unbelievable. He really struggled with his game the first few holes, up-and-down, up-and-down, up-and-down, and then got some flow going. He had 15 one-putts today. His short game was Seve-like. It was awesome.

 

“He was chipping it to a foot and it was awesome. Chipping around this golf course is difficult, very grainy, very tough, very sandy underneath the ball. It was a masterclass.”

 

McIlroy was left to rue his mini meltdown on the back nine, where he drove into a fairway bunker on the 12th and compounded the error by three putting, before duffing two chips from right of the green on the 13th.

 

“The 12th and 13th ruined the scorecard a bit,” said the 25 year old, who had already secured his second Race to Dubai title in three years after four wins this season.

 

“It makes life a little more difficult for me tomorrow. I need to be aggressive, I need to go at pins, hit it close and make some putts.

 

“I felt a little better out there today than yesterday so knew if I stayed patient the birdies would come. I got on a nice run with three birdies in a row from the fifth and another one at ten, but unfortunately the back nine was not quite as good as the front.

 

“It was annoying to follow one double bogey with another. I was a little frustrated but it was nice to get a couple back and at least keep myself in touch.”

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