Despite a rough stretch on the back nine in which he followed a double-bogey with a bogey, South African Darren Fichardt navigated his way through some swirling winds at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters on Saturday, and he’ll take a one-shot lead into the final round.
Fichardt, who has five wins on the Euro Tour but none since the 2017 Joburg Open, opened the back nine with two straight birdies but hit his rough patch on holes No. 13 and 14. He fought back with two birdies on the day’s final holes, however, and stands at 7 under through 54 holes at the Education City Golf Course.
Englishman Jack Senior is alone in second just a single shot behind Fichardt. Kurt Kitayama is the top American in the field as he’s currently T-10 at 2 under, but dropped significantly with a 75 on Saturday.
Fichardt, who has a total of 18 victories on the South African-based Sunshine Tour, used some solid wedge play to grab the lead. He was one of just four players to post a score under par on the day.
Windy wedge game @Darrenfichardt1
#QatarMasters pic.twitter.com/BY9OJi3PYv
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) March 13, 2021
Admittedly, the field in Qatar is not particularly strong as just eight of the world’s top 100 players are on hand, and none from inside the Official World Golf Ranking’s top 50.
18 holes to play in Qatar
#QatarMasters
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) March 13, 2021