Dylan Frittelli shot a 69, matching the lowest round of the day, and took a two-stroke lead into the final round of the Bahrain Championship.
The South African teams entered the weekend with a shared lead, and although the wind was not as strong as on the second day, the field at the Royal Golf Club remained in testing conditions.
It showed in the early stages as the lead slipped, but Frittelli made a hat trick of birdies near the turn to move forward and move up to 12 under, past countryman Ocky Strydom.
Strydom also shot a 69 to move to 10 under par, one place ahead of Swedish signing Jesper Svensson with a 72, and seven players five shots behind the leader.
Frittelli graduated from the European Challenge Tour in 2016 and made an immediate impact in her first year on the DP World Tour, winning the Lioness Open and subsequently joining the AfraAsia Bank Mauritius, which was part of the 2018 season. He also won the Open.
The University of Texas graduate, who hit the winning putt as the Longhorns won the national championship in 2012, earned a PGA Tour card in 2018, returned to the United States, and made it again by winning the 2019 John Deere Classic. It left an impression on me.
But he persevered through a difficult 2023, opting to return to the DP World Tour, which is open to players who finish outside the top 125 on the FedEx Cup Fall Points List, and has finished in the top spot twice in the past six tournaments. We secured a place in the top 20.
Frittelli found himself alone in the lead as fellow overnight leaders Svensson and Joel Garback hit their first and third three-putts, respectively.
On the 4th, he hit his tee shot wide to the right and made bogey himself. On the 9th, a charging Niklas Norgaard hit a 20-foot eagle, and on the 10th, he fell out of the lead with 8 feet left. .
The 33-year-old regained his share with a great close-range throw on the 8th, and Nordgaard three-putted to take the sole lead on the 11th.
A two-putt gain on No. 9 and a good up-and-down from the sand on No. 10 pushed him to 11 under and two clear, but Strydom and Svensson caught up with him.
Strydom came back with a level par with two bogeys and two birdies, but he came back to life after the turn and made smart pitches until the 11th, holed from 25 feet on the 12th, and after a layup on the par-5 14th. I took advantage of the opportunity.
This left him one place behind, and Svensson soon joined him. Svensson made a two-putt birdie on the 9th and hit his tee shot to 5 feet on the 12th.
Frittelli also made a 14-foot eagle on the 14th and then birdied it to advance by two, while Svensson also three-putted his shot on the same hole.
On the 16th, he hit a 13-foot tee shot to get ahead by three, and on the 17th he saved par despite being in the water, then dropped his shot at the end.
– Report from DP World Tour website
Photo: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images