Rahm Catches Lorenzo-Vera To Hold Lead At DP WTC

Spain’s Jon Rahm has closed the gap to France’s Mike Lorenzo-Vera, with the pair now tied going into the final round of the DP World Tour Championship, or DPWTC.

Rahm carded a magnificent 66 around the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates on Saturday, as he tied things at the top of the standings of the DPWTC at -15.

The Spaniard had started the day three behind Lorenzo-Vera, who is looking for his first European Tour title. However, Rahm birdied his first two holes, and then had four more on the back nine to card a six-under-par 66.

The Frenchman, on the other hand, shot a second consecutive round of 69, and he would have held the lead going into the final day had it not been for a bogey on the finishing hole, something he has now done two days running.

The duo hold a two-shot lead from Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, who recovered from a poor 74 on Friday to card his second round of 65 or better on Saturday at the DPWTC.

The four-time major winner shot the best round of the third day, with his bogey-free seven-under-par round seeing him climb back up the standings and into solo 3rd place, and he was on fire all day, including this approach which hit the flagstick.

England’s Tommy Fleetwood could only manage a two-under-par 70, and he now sits four shots behind the leading pair at -11. Both Thomas Pieters and Marcus Kinhult carded 68s on Saturday, and they sit in 5th and 6th on the leaderboard, at -10 and -9 respectively.

The reigning DP World Tour Champion, Danny Willett, is in a tie for 7th at -8, seven shots behind the leading duo. He is tied with the Andalucia Masters champion Christiaan Bezuidenhout.

Matthew Fitzpatrick and Tom Lewis are in a tie for 9th, with the five-time runner-up in 2019 carding a 68, while Lewis dropped down with a 73, falling out of the top five.

British Open champion Shane Lowry is among those at in a tie for 11th at -5, along with Sergio Garcia and Andy Sullivan, who had both started the day at level par.

After a good day for low scores at the DPWTC, 31 players are no under par, including the likes of Paul Casey, Robert MacIntyre and Joachim Hansen, who all started the third round in the black numbers.

Race to Dubai leader Bernd Wiesberger sits at -2, after a 73 around the Earth Course on Saturday, and he is projected to lose the crown come the end of Sunday’s play to joint leader Rahm.

With MacIntyre now at -2, he now looks to be cruising towards the Rookie of the Year crown, as American Kurt Kitayama posted a five-over-par 77 and now sits at +7, nine behind the Scotsman.

Back at the top, and it will be Rahm and Lorenzo-Vera that will tee off in the final group, starting their last rounds at 12:00 local time (GMT+4). The pair hold a two-shot lead over the rest, but can any of the chasing pack catch them at Jumeirah on Sunday?

Leaderboard:

T1 (-15): Jon Rahm (ESP), Mike Lorenzo-Vera (FRA)

3 (-13): Rory McIlroy (NIR)

4 (-11): Tommy Fleetwood (ENG)

5 (-10): Thomas Pieters (BEL)

T9 (-6): Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG), Tom Lewis (ENG)

Selected Others:

T11 (-5): Sergio Garcia (ESP), Shane Lowry (IRL)

T16 (-4): Paul Casey (ENG), Justin Rose (ENG)

T20 (-3): Robert MacIntyre (SCO), Matt Wallace (ENG), Louis Oosthuizen (RSA)

T24 (-2): Patrick Reed (USA), Bernd Wiesberger (AUT)

Projected Race to Dubai Top Five:

1 (+2): Jon Rahm (ESP)

2 (-1): Bernd Wiesberger (AUT)

3 (-1): Tommy Fleetwood (ENG)

4 (=): Shane Lowry (IRL)

5 (=) Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG)