It’s impossible to know who the third round leader will be at the HSBC Championship.
The fog in Abu Dhabi has seen to that.
When darkness fell over the Abu Dhabi Golf Club Saturday, Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler had worked their way into a share of the lead at 10-under par.
They have more to play, as do the other three players who joined them atop the leaderboard.
McIlroy has nine holes left in his third round, Fowler has seven, Joost Luiten has eight, Ian Poulter six and Brandon Grace just two. They and the rest who didn’t finish will return early Sunday and hopefully, fog won’t be a factor as it was on Friday and Saturday mornings.
The thick fog delayed play nearly three hours on Friday and again on Saturday.
There are plenty of contenders who are close.
Henrik Stenson’s nine-under with eight to play and second round leader Andy Sullivan fell back to that number when he triple-bogeyed his final hole, the ninth. His tee shot was lost in a bush near the water hazard on the right side of the hole and a crowd of searchers failed to find his ball until after his five-minute time limit expired. He went back to the tee and would eventually take a seven.
Sullivan, like so many others, will have plenty of holes to make up for it before the final 18 starts.
Jordan Spieth got himself within sniffing distance of the leaders. After a disappointing 73 for his second round, he bounced back with a 68 and could make things interesting with a low number on Sunday.
American amateur Bryson DeChambeau, playing in the lead group, kept his holes alive. Like Spieth, he’s seven under but still has nine holes to play to try and sneak closer to the leaders.
In all, there are 21 players within three of the lead with plenty of holes left.
Should be a mad sprint to the finish on Sunday afternoon.
