Pádraig Harrington’s remarkable round makes him a contender in Abu Dhabi

The sentiment of Pádraig Harrington should serve as much of a warning to the remainder of the Abu Dhabi Championship field as the golf produced by the Irishman while en route to a third round of 64. Harrington, a three-times major winner, believes his game has never been in better shape.

Success for Harrington would turn heads. And no wonder; at 51, he would become the oldest winner in DP World, once European, Tour history. Harrington will begin round four sitting two from the 54-hole lead, held by Shane Lowry, Min Woo Lee and a resurgent Francesco Molinari at 13 under par. There will be little stress attached to Harrington’s fourth-round buildup. He is loving life in this environment.

“This afternoon will involve eating chocolate, drinking my Diet Coke, sitting on my bed watching Netflix or something,” he said. “I’m different at this age. I have a much better handle on experience, who I am and what I need to do. I am in a good place.

“Before everybody did stats, I did stats. Now that everybody does their own stats, I’m refusing to do stats because I don’t want to be one of the masses. I have to be different, so I’m trying the opposite.”

Harrington’s competitive desire seems to have been sharpened by qualification for the Champions Tour, for over 50s, in the United States. But if he wins on Yas Links, he will undoubtedly place more focus on mainstream tours. A back-nine run of six birdies in a row emphasised his ability to mix it with the best. “When I did that in my heyday I would have been quite hyped up and stressed about it,” he said, “Today it was ‘ho-hum, this is what I do’.

“There’s a lot of players who will get to 50 years of age fitter, stronger. The biggest problem is burnout. I was burnt out five years ago, no doubt about it. I’m here because I had nothing else to do. I figured out this is what I like doing and I’m pretty good at it and there’s no point in trying to be good at something else. I’ll never be as good as I am at golf, so why not find a way of going out there and loving golf again??”

There promises to be a frantic finale. At one point on Saturday, 22 players sat within three of the lead. By close of play, Lee and Lowry had signed for 66s with Molinari producing a fine birdie at the 18th for a 69. Grant Forrest’s 65 put him with Sebastian Söderberg and Victor Perez at minus 12. Antoine Rozner, Adrian Meronk and Guido Migliozzi are with Harrington at 11 under. Two strokes separate the top 10.

Lowry’s highlight involved holing out for an eagle from 162 yards at the 6th. “It was a Brucie bonus because I had given myself a few chances earlier and didn’t really hole much,” he said. “First tournament of the year, you don’t know what’s going to happen. My thing would be I try and give myself as many chances to win as I can and at some stage, hopefully it happens.”

Lowry won this tournament in 2019, when it was staged at Abu Dhabi Golf Club. Six months later, he was the Open champion. Strong winds forecast for day four should be in Lowry’s favour. “When it’s breezy out there it’s very tricky, and I’ll be able to deal with that,” he said.

The morning had delivered a bruising experience for Tom McKibbin. With two holes to complete of his second round – he had been removed from the course on Friday evening because of fading light – he sat inside the cut line. McKibbin made a par on the 17th but found water at the last. A double bogey meant he missed the cut by one.

McKibbin’s mood may just have improved by Tuesday, when Harrington revealed he and Lowry fancy taking on the 20-year-old and a certain Rory McIlroy in a practice round before the Dubai Desert Classic.