Danny Willett was the second-best player in Europe behind Rory McIlroy last year.
This week, Willett’s put eight shots between himself and the defending champion at the Dubai Desert Classic.
Willett’s 65 on Saturday moved him to 16-under par, one shot clear of the overnight leader — Raffa Cabrera Bello. Bello’s magic number the first two rounds was 67 and that’s what he finished with once again as he looks to win this title for the second time.
Andy Sullivan will start the final 18 two back at 14-under and will be paired with Joost Luiten, who is by himself at 13-under.
Ernie Els couldn’t sustain his good play. He shot 74, the first time he’s been over-par in the third round of this event.
Willett had a great start with four birdies on the front nine then an eagle at the par five 13th helped wipe out his only bogey of the round.
It was the same story for McIlroy in the third round. A double-bogey at the ninth hole put him two-over at the turn then he rallied with six back-nine birdies, including a birdie-birdie finish but it couldn’t undo the damage from his start. He will have to do something super-human to get himself into contention on Sunday.
American amateur Bryson DeChambeau had his third-straight sub-par round. He equaled McIlroy’s 68 and is in a shot better than the world’s No. 2 player at nine-under par.
