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Danny Willett Looks for Dubai Victory

By Elizabeth Bethel

Jul 19, 2015; St. Andrews, Fife, SCT; Danny Willett drives on the 9th during the third round of the 144th Open Championship at St. Andrews - Old Course. Mandatory Credit: Steve Flynn-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 19, 2015; St. Andrews, Fife, SCT; Danny Willett drives on the 9th during the third round of the 144th Open Championship at St. Andrews - Old Course. Mandatory Credit: Steve Flynn-USA TODAY Sports /
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Danny Willett has a 1 shot edge going into the final round in Dubai.

Even as Danny Willett edged up to the top of the board in Dubai, 2012 champion Rafa Cabrera-Bello said he knows how to win this one! The scene is set for a Sunday battle in the desert.

Willett was in brilliant form at Emirates Golf Club with a second consecutive 65 to take a one-shot lead into the final round of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.

The Englishman who turned down a PGA TOUR card for the 2015-16 season seems to be making good on his plan to improve his European Tour standings. Willett began the day one shot behind Cabrera-Bello but by the end of round three he had moved to 16-under par, one clear of the Spaniard and two ahead of Andy Sullivan.

Read more about Danny Willett’s decision to turn down that 2015-16 PGA TOUR card

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Danny Willett finished runner-up to Rory McIlroy in last season’s Race to Dubai. If he keeps up this pace there may be a different storyline come next December. The World Number Two will need to produce something spectacular to successfully defend this title from eight shots back on Sunday and make some progress in catching Jordan Spieth in the OWGR standings.

The highlight of Willett’s round was a curling 30-foot eagle putt on the 13th that moved him two ahead of the pack and into a lead he would not relinquish by the end of the day.

Mentally, I feel like I’m very much in control of myself . . . I’m trying to keep it as simple as possible and let the mind be a little bit calmer. . . Danny Willett

The 28 year old was one of the stars of Europe’s emphatic recent victory at the EURASIA CUP. A fourth European Tour win in Dubai this week would boost chance of making Darren Clarke’s Ryder Cup team in September.

But this one doesn’t belong to Danny Willett just yet. Cabrera-Bello is a man in form this week. He finished in a tie for second at last week’s Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, and he looked inspired early in his round when he holed a brilliant bunker shot for eagle on the third. A birdie followed, seemingly without effort. Dropped shots on the seventh and 12th stalled his progress but he rallied with birdies on the 14th and 17th to emerge as Willett’s nearest challenger.

. . . I know what to do around here to win – Rafa Cabrera-Bello

Willett and Cabrera-Bello both know that Sunday could bring a different story. The pair are separated by a single stroke going into the final round at the Emirates and Cabrara-Bello is as primed for the win as Willett.

It’s not going to be a 2-man race to the finish in Dubai. Andy Sullivan at 16-under par remains in the hunt. Sullivan began his tournament with a double bogey on Thursday but has not dropped a shot in the following 53 holes. A 66 on Saturday kept the Englishman with a solid peek at the top of the board.

Below Sullivan, Dutchman Joost Luiten was at 13 under thanks to a 67, a shot clear of South African Haydn Porteous and two ahead of Australia’s Scott Hend and England’s Chris Wood.

Next: Jordan Spieth: Focus on Augusta

Defending champion McIlroy came home in 31 to sign for a 68 while Joachim B Hansen produced the low round of the day with a 64 to get to nine under. Can any of them out-shoot the robot in Phoenix?

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