At the Bahrain Championship, Dylan Frittelli took a two-stroke lead in Saturday’s third round despite a 3-under 69 and bogey on the final hole.
At the end of Friday’s second round, three South Africans were in contention for the lead, but Jesper Svensson (72) and Joel Garback (74) both struggled in the third. Fellow South African Ocky Strydom moved into second place alongside Frittelli’s 69, with Svensson taking sole third place.
Frittelli made three straight birdies near the turn and added two more before missing a 6-foot par on the 18th for his second bogey of the day. He marked a total of 204, 12 under par.
“I’m happy. It was another tough day with lots of wind, but I think we coped well,” Frittelli said. “It’s unfortunate that I hit two bogeys, but I fought really hard today.”
Frittelli holed the winning putt when Texas won the NCAA title in 2012, won twice on the European Tour in 2017 and hoisted the trophy at the 2019 John Deere Classic in his rookie season on the PGA Tour. .
However, he had a tough season on the PGA Tour in 2023, missing the cut or withdrawing in 23 of his 27 starts, missing the cut altogether.
The Bahrain Championship is a new tournament to the European Tour’s schedule and will be the fourth of five consecutive weeks starting in the Middle East in 2024. The tour ended in Bahrain in 2011 as the debut of the now-defunct Volvo Tournament of Champions.
___
AP Golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf