Four birdies on the front nine on Saturday showcased Thriston Lawrence at his best as he carded a four-under-par 68 in the third round of the DP World Tour Championship at the Earth Course of Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai.
Lawrence made a bogey and a birdie on the back nine as he moved to four-under-par for the tournament and a share of 17th. He was eight strokes off the three-way share of the lead as Rory McIlroy, Antoine Rozner of France, and Rasmus Højgaard of Denmark all reached 12-under-par after 54 holes.
The bigger picture of that Lawrence round, however, is that he will more than likely finish up relinquishing his grasp on second place behind McIlroy on the Race to Dubai rankings. The Northern Irishman is in prime position to equal Seve Ballesteros as a six-time winner of the Harry Vardon Trophy and take a step towards the extraordinary eight title of Colin Montgomerie. For Lawrence, while not coming second might sting a little, he will be delighted to be one of 10 players who earns a place on the PGA Tour for the 2025 season.
McIlroy said: “Tied for the lead. Going out on a golf course that I really like and that I’ve had success on before. It’s a great opportunity to end the year on a really high note. Going to go out there tomorrow and give it everything I can and hopefully things fall my way and I’m able to stand on that 18th green with both trophies.”
Højgaard surged into the lead thanks to a birdie blitz on his front nine. The Dane, whose identical twin brother Nicolai lifted the trophy last year, started the day three shots behind Rozner but by the time he was on sixth green aiming to drain his fifth straight birdie, he was leading by two. He could not keep his birdie trail going on that occasion; however, he added another brace from the seventh to reach the turn in 30.
Ten straight pars, including one through the back door at the 17th and a 21-foot effort at the last after two penalty drops, followed to keep his card clean and remain at 12-under. Speaking about his par save at the last, he admitted: “It was looking more like an eight at some point. Yeah, incredible. It wasn’t an easy pitch shot, short right to be fair and got it up to a decent chance to hole the putt. I had already written down a six on my scorecard. Very happy.”
