January 30 - February 02
Royal Green G&CC, King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia
$3,500,000
Round 1, Round 2, Round 4
Northern Irelandโs Graeme McDowell will take a one-shot lead into the final round of the Saudi International powered by Softbank Investment Advisers, following an entertaining third round that saw some of the worldโs leading players make their move at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club.
McDowellโs four under round of 66, taking him to -12, started in steady fashion with a level-par front nine but he showed his class and tenacity around the turn with brutal winds and challenging pin positions testing the whole field.
Sparked into life by a 20ft par-saving putt on the 9th, McDowell went on a birdie-blitz, draining from the fringe on the 12th and 13th hole โ the former including clattering the pin, the latter a monster putt on the courseโs most difficult hole.
A wayward drive on 18 threatened to tarnish a terrific back nine played in Royal Greensโ now infamous afternoon Red Sea winds, but the 40-year-old recovered with a sumptuous approach to six-feet from 180-yards out, before making birdie and claim the outright lead at 12-under-par heading into Sundayโs final round.
54 hole leads on the European Tour: 9️⃣
โ The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) February 1, 2020
Wins: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆@Graeme_McDowell #SaudiIntlGolf pic.twitter.com/ETHJyakz1i
โMy putt on nine was massive as Iโd just bogeyed eight and the putter was cold,โ said McDowell.
โThose are the putts you look back on the round and say โthat was the oneโ. Those two putts from off the green on 12 and 13 are just massive bonuses at that point. You canโt expect to make those type of putts. Conditions were very tough today so Iโm very pleased with that back nine.โ
McDowell will be reunited with former 2014 Ryder Cup playing partner Victor Dubuisson in Sundayโs final pairing, following the Frenchmanโs flawless bogey-free five under 65.
Dubuisson (-11) mastered the wind superbly throughout his round making three early birdies in the first four holes to put himself in contention for a first win on tour since the 2015 Turkish Open.
โIt was just the kind of day where everything goes well,โ said Dubuisson.
โI made a few mistakes on yardage with the wind and I managed to save par each time. I told my caddie it's going to be very windy, let's be a little more aggressive and relaxed despite the wind.โ
Malaysiaโs Gavin Green was unable to hit the heights of his opening rounds of 64 & 67 but a level-par 70 on Saturday keeps him three off the lead on -9 in sole third position.
โIt was brutal out there and couple of pins, they were tucked so far in corners,โ said Green.
โAll we did was play to the middle of the greens and just try and take our 2-putt and make par. Because par is a good score today.โ
The American trio of superstars Dustin Johnson (-7), World Number 1 Brooks Koepka (-6) and legend Phil Mickelson (-6) are all ominously within touching distance of the leaders.
Defending champion Johnson started his day with a bang grabbing four consecutive birdies in the first four holes, before losing ground on the tricky back nine.
โTomorrow I'm going to have to go out and get off to another start like I did today and then finish it off a little better,โ said Johnson.
Moving Day done right ✍️@BKoepka #SaudiIntlGolf
โ The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) February 1, 2020
Koepka took advantage of the more benign morning conditions in his round of 65 - the joint lowest round of the day alongside Dubuisson and Ian Poulter (-5). The worldโs leading playerโs put on a driving masterclass with his putter finally getting hot after a frustrating start to the tournament.
โI drove it really well today and I just made more putts,โ said Koepka. โIโve putted well all week they just haven't fallen, but today they finally fell.โ
Tickets for the Saudi Internationalโs final day remain on sale, priced at 50 SAR per day with exclusive concert tickets start at 75 SAR
For more tournament information, visit www.saudiinternational.com
Pos. |
Player | Nat |
To Par |
R1 |
R2 |
R3 |
Total |
1 |
Graeme McDowell | NIR |
-12 |
64 |
68 |
66 |
198 |
2 |
Victor Dubuisson | FRA |
-11 |
69 |
65 |
65 |
199 |
3 |
Gavin Green | MAS |
-9 |
64 |
67 |
70 |
201 |
T4 |
Dustin Johnson | USA |
-7 |
67 |
68 |
68 |
203 |
T4 |
Renato Paratore | ITA |
-7 |
68 |
65 |
70 |
203 |
T4 |
Victor Perez | FRA |
-7 |
65 |
65 |
73 |
203 |
T7 |
Brooks Koepka | USA |
-6 |
70 |
69 |
65 |
204 |
T7 |
Phil Mickelson | USA |
-6 |
66 |
70 |
68 |
204 |
T7 |
Thomas Detry | BEL |
-6 |
73 |
66 |
65 |
204 |
T10 |
Ashun Wu | CHI |
-5 |
71 |
66 |
68 |
205 |
T10 |
Grant Forrest | SCO |
-5 |
73 |
66 |
66 |
205 |
T10 |
Henrik Stenson | SWE |
-5 |
65 |
70 |
70 |
205 |
T10 |
Ian Poulter | ENG |
-5 |
72 |
68 |
65 |
205 |
T10 |
Jordan Smith | ENG |
-5 |
71 |
67 |
67 |
205 |
T10 |
Ross Fisher | ENG |
-5 |
66 |
68 |
71 |
205 |
T16 |
Abraham Ancer | USA |
-4 |
69 |
70 |
67 |
206 |
T16 |
Adria Arnaus | ESP |
-4 |
65 |
74 |
67 |
206 |
T16 |
Matthieu Pavon | FRA |
-4 |
68 |
71 |
67 |
206 |
T16 |
Shane Lowry | IRL |
-4 |
69 |
67 |
70 |
206 |
T16 |
Thomas Pieters | BEL |
-4 |
70 |
67 |
69 |
206 |
T21 |
Benjamin Hebert | FRA |
-3 |
71 |
69 |
67 |
207 |
T21 |
Dean Burmester | RSA |
-3 |
71 |
68 |
68 |
207 |
T21 |
Francesco Laporta | ITA |
-3 |
67 |
68 |
72 |
207 |
T21 |
Jhonattan Vegas | VEN |
-3 |
65 |
71 |
71 |
207 |
T21 |
Matthias Schwab | AUT |
-3 |
69 |
72 |
66 |
207 |
T21 |
Sergio Garcia | ESP |
-3 |
69 |
68 |
70 |
207 |
T27 |
Aaron Rai | ENG |
-2 |
66 |
71 |
71 |
208 |
T27 |
Adrian Meronk | POL |
-2 |
68 |
70 |
70 |
208 |
T27 |
Adrian Otaegui | ESP |
-2 |
69 |
71 |
68 |
208 |
T27 |
Alexander Bjoerk | SWE |
-2 |
68 |
69 |
71 |
208 |
T27 |
Christiaan Bezuidenhout | RSA |
-2 |
68 |
73 |
67 |
208 |
T27 |
David Howell | ENG |
-2 |
68 |
69 |
71 |
208 |
T27 |
Justin Harding | RSA |
-2 |
68 |
73 |
67 |
208 |
T27 |
Maximilian Kieffer | GER |
-2 |
70 |
71 |
67 |
208 |
T27 |
Richard McEvoy | ENG |
-2 |
69 |
68 |
71 |
208 |
T27 |
Sean Crocker | USA |
-2 |
68 |
68 |
72 |
208 |
T37 |
Alexander Levy | FRA |
-1 |
69 |
70 |
70 |
209 |
T37 |
Antoine Rozner | FRA |
-1 |
72 |
68 |
69 |
209 |
T37 |
Ashley Chesters | ENG |
-1 |
73 |
67 |
69 |
209 |
T37 |
Connor Syme | SCO |
-1 |
69 |
71 |
69 |
209 |
T37 |
Fabrizio Zanotti | PAR |
-1 |
68 |
72 |
69 |
209 |
T37 |
Jeff Winther | SWE |
-1 |
69 |
68 |
72 |
209 |
T37 |
Matt Wallace | ENG |
-1 |
70 |
68 |
71 |
209 |
T37 |
Nicolas Colsaerts | BEL |
-1 |
69 |
69 |
71 |
209 |
T37 |
Richie Ramsay | SCO |
-1 |
70 |
70 |
69 |
209 |
T37 |
Soren Kjeldsen | DEN |
-1 |
67 |
69 |
73 |
209 |
T47 |
Andy Sullivan | ENG |
Par |
66 |
71 |
73 |
210 |
T47 |
Nacho Elvira | ESP |
Par |
72 |
66 |
72 |
210 |
T47 |
James Morrison | ENG |
Par |
69 |
68 |
73 |
210 |
T47 |
Jazz Janewattananond | THA |
Par |
68 |
66 |
76 |
210 |
T47 |
Joost Luiten | NED |
Par |
67 |
72 |
71 |
210 |
T47 |
Lucas Herbert | AUS |
Par |
67 |
71 |
72 |
210 |
T47 |
Martin Kaymer | GER |
Par |
73 |
64 |
73 |
210 |
T47 |
Ryan Fox | NZL |
Par |
66 |
75 |
69 |
210 |
T47 |
Sebastian Heisele | GER |
Par |
70 |
69 |
71 |
210 |
T47 |
Sebastian Soederberg | SWE |
Par |
65 |
73 |
72 |
210 |
T47 |
Steven Brown | ENG |
Par |
71 |
70 |
69 |
210 |
T58 |
Ernie Els | RSA |
1 |
72 |
69 |
70 |
211 |
T58 |
Haotong Li | CHN |
1 |
70 |
71 |
70 |
211 |
T58 |
Jack Senior | ENG |
1 |
71 |
69 |
71 |
211 |
T58 |
Justin Walters | RSA |
1 |
71 |
65 |
75 |
211 |
T58 |
Kalle Samooja | FIN |
1 |
72 |
68 |
71 |
211 |
T58 |
Lorenzo Gagli | ITA |
1 |
73 |
66 |
72 |
211 |
T58 |
Maverick Antcliff | AUS |
1 |
70 |
69 |
72 |
211 |
T58 |
Pablo Larrazabal | ESP |
1 |
69 |
68 |
74 |
211 |
T58 |
Scott Jamieson | SCO |
1 |
73 |
67 |
71 |
211 |
T58 |
Stephen Gallacher | SCO |
1 |
70 |
71 |
70 |
211 |
T68 |
Edoardo Molinari | ITA |
2 |
71 |
69 |
72 |
212 |
T68 |
Gaganjeet Bhullar | IND |
2 |
74 |
67 |
71 |
212 |
T68 |
Haydn Porteous | RSA |
2 |
72 |
67 |
73 |
212 |
T68 |
Masahiro Kawamura | JPN |
2 |
73 |
68 |
71 |
212 |
T68 |
Rafael Cabrera Bello | ESP |
2 |
69 |
70 |
73 |
212 |
T73 |
Marcus Kinhult | SWE |
3 |
67 |
68 |
78 |
213 |
T73 |
Nino Bertasio | ITA |
3 |
72 |
69 |
72 |
213 |
75 |
Sebastian Garcia | ESP |
5 |
67 |
70 |
78 |
215 |
76 |
Julien Guerrier | FRA |
9 |
75 |
65 |
79 |
219 |
CUT |
Chris Paisley | ENG |
2 |
70 |
72 |
- |
142 |
CUT |
Cormac Sharvin | NIR |
2 |
75 |
67 |
- |
142 |
CUT |
David Drysdale | SCO |
2 |
73 |
69 |
- |
142 |
CUT |
Joakim Lagergren | SWE |
2 |
75 |
67 |
- |
142 |
CUT |
Matthew Jordan | ENG |
2 |
73 |
69 |
- |
142 |
CUT |
Mikko Korhonen | FIN |
2 |
71 |
71 |
- |
142 |
CUT |
Min-Woo Lee | AUS |
2 |
74 |
68 |
- |
142 |
CUT |
Paul Waring | ENG |
2 |
72 |
70 |
- |
142 |
CUT |
Sam Horsfield | ENG |
2 |
70 |
72 |
- |
142 |
CUT |
Scott Hend | AUS |
2 |
68 |
74 |
- |
142 |
CUT |
Zander Lombard | RSA |
2 |
72 |
70 |
- |
142 |
CUT |
Alvaro Quiros | ESP |
3 |
72 |
71 |
- |
143 |
CUT |
Bernd Wiesberger | AUT |
3 |
75 |
68 |
- |
143 |
CUT |
Darius van Driel | NED |
3 |
71 |
72 |
- |
143 |
CUT |
Guido Migliozzi | ITA |
3 |
70 |
73 |
- |
143 |
CUT |
Jamie Donaldson | WAL |
3 |
71 |
72 |
- |
143 |
CUT |
Lee Westwood | ENG |
3 |
70 |
73 |
- |
143 |
CUT |
Oliver Wilson | ENG |
3 |
75 |
68 |
- |
143 |
CUT |
Patrick Reed | USA |
3 |
73 |
70 |
- |
143 |
CUT |
Rasmus Hoejgaard | DEN |
3 |
70 |
73 |
- |
143 |
CUT |
Richard Bland | ENG |
3 |
69 |
74 |
- |
143 |
CUT |
Robert MacIntyre | SCO |
3 |
72 |
71 |
- |
143 |
CUT |
Romain Langasque | FRA |
3 |
71 |
72 |
- |
143 |
CUT |
Shubhankar Sharma | IND |
3 |
68 |
75 |
- |
143 |
CUT |
Akshay Bhatia | USA |
4 |
72 |
72 |
- |
144 |
CUT |
Andrea Pavan | ITA |
4 |
71 |
73 |
- |
144 |
CUT |
Calum Hill | SCO |
4 |
71 |
73 |
- |
144 |
CUT |
Erik Van Rooyen | RSA |
4 |
71 |
73 |
- |
144 |
CUT |
Jack Singh-Brar | ENG |
4 |
70 |
74 |
- |
144 |
CUT |
Jorge Campillo | ESP |
4 |
73 |
71 |
- |
144 |
CUT |
Michael Lorenzo-Vera | FRA |
4 |
74 |
70 |
- |
144 |
CUT |
Oliver Fisher | ENG |
4 |
73 |
71 |
- |
144 |
CUT |
Tapio Pulkkanen | FIN |
4 |
73 |
71 |
- |
144 |
CUT |
David Horsey | ENG |
5 |
74 |
71 |
- |
145 |
CUT |
David Law | SCO |
5 |
75 |
70 |
- |
145 |
CUT |
David Micheluzzi | AUS |
5 |
72 |
73 |
- |
145 |
CUT |
Thomas Aiken | RSA |
5 |
73 |
72 |
- |
145 |
CUT |
Tom Lewis | ENG |
5 |
66 |
79 |
- |
145 |
CUT |
Jeung-Hun Wang | KOR |
6 |
73 |
73 |
- |
146 |
CUT |
Joachim B. Hansen | DEN |
6 |
74 |
72 |
- |
146 |
CUT |
Sebastian Crampton | USA |
6 |
74 |
72 |
- |
146 |
CUT |
Benjamin Poke | DNK |
7 |
74 |
73 |
- |
147 |
CUT |
Jamie Elson | ENG |
7 |
79 |
68 |
- |
147 |
CUT |
Ricardo Santos | POR |
7 |
74 |
73 |
- |
147 |
CUT |
Robert Rock | ENG |
7 |
71 |
76 |
- |
147 |
CUT |
Ahmed Marjan | MOR |
8 |
75 |
73 |
- |
148 |
CUT |
Matthew Southgate | ENG |
8 |
71 |
77 |
- |
148 |
CUT |
Raphael Jacquelin | FRA |
9 |
70 |
79 |
- |
149 |
CUT |
Wade Ormsby | AUS |
9 |
76 |
73 |
- |
149 |
CUT |
Brandon Stone | RSA |
10 |
78 |
72 |
- |
150 |
CUT |
Oliver Farr | WAL |
10 |
73 |
77 |
- |
150 |
CUT |
Othman Al Mulla | KSA |
10 |
75 |
75 |
- |
150 |
CUT |
Thomas Bjorn | DEN |
10 |
73 |
77 |
- |
150 |
CUT |
Saud Al Sharif | KSA |
15 |
82 |
73 |
- |
155 |
CUT |
Faisal Alsalhab | KSA |
26 |
82 |
84 |
- |
166 |
RET |
Callum Shinkwin | ENG |
Par |
79 |
- |
- |
79 |