Lawrie taking 2-shot leading into Qatar Masters final round

A final-day thriller is in the offing, with the two main protagonists chasing their own piece of history.

Former Open champion Paul Lawrie enhanced his reputation as a bad-weather specialist to remain firmly on course for an unprecedented third victory in the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.

South African Branden Grace shot a composed final-round 69 on Saturday to become the first player to retain the Qatar Masters title.

He said: “It was a brutal day out there”.

Lawrie was a picture of consistency during his bogey-free round.

Spain’s Rafael Cabrera-Bello and Britain’s Tommy Fleetwood are a further shot behind on 10 under par.

Lee Slattery joins Andrew Johnston, Gregory Bourdy and Pelle Edberg on nine under, four shots off the pace.

“It’s still not over yet. I hit a lot of good putts that didn’t go in”.

“To be honest, I played great down the last nine holes”. The 47-year-old Scot came in as the 54-hole leader, but a final-round 78 dropped him well back into a tie for 13th place.

“Conditions were tough as you can see by the scoring, so to not have a bogey is good, but it was a little bit frustrating for me”.

Grace was not optimistic over his chances of retaining the trophy when he arrived for the second event of the Desert Swing, but he was delighted that his patient approach paid off as he defended a European Tour title for the first time in his career.

Grace took last year’s title with a score of 19 under.

“Branden Grace is obviously defending champion, won here before and well up the World Rankings”. “The wind was blowing and the greens were tricky. In conditions like that, it’s tough to give yourself those chances”, said world No. 11 Grace, who is also the tournament’s top-ranked player. This was really one of my biggest wins to date a year ago, and I think this is just going to push it up even higher.

“I’m pretty much at a loss for words”, he added. I didn’t really think I left any out there, so four under was a great score.

Both Lawrie and Grace are seeking to make tournament history. “That would be great”.

Grace shot an overall 14-under 274 for his seventh European Tour title.

Like Lawrie, Grace, who won with a score of 19 under previous year, did not make a single bogey all day. He birdied the fourth and fifth but dropped a shot on the seventh before birdieing the ninth to turn in 33.

His birdies at 16, 17 and 18 followed a birdie at the par five first, and 14 pars as he produced high-quality and consistent golf on a day when others struggled in cold and windy conditions.

3 – It was an excellent week for Bradley Dredge of Wales.