Staff WriterOn a sun-splashed Moving Day at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, Patrick Reed looked like a man who’d finally found the on-switch. The American carved out a brilliant third-round 67 at Emirates Golf Club to turn a one-shot overnight edge into a hulking four-stroke lead, planting himself firmly in pole position for a maiden Rolex Series victory on Sunday.
He started the day at nine under, a fragile advantage that looked about as sturdy as a chocolate teapot once Francesco Molinari came out birdie-birdie-birdie to reach double figures. The Italian, who had led after 18 holes, briefly turned the pressure up to “boil” on the front nine before Reed responded in the way only Patrick Reed seems to enjoy: by getting punched in the mouth and punching back harder.
Reed Wobbles, Then Floors the Accelerator
Reed’s opening stretch was hardly textbook. Three birdies and two bogeys in his first seven holes had all the serenity of a baggage carousel at Dubai airport. But crucially, he kept pace, reaching ten under to join Molinari before sneaking ahead again with a birdie to close out his front nine.
From there, he stopped flirting with trouble and started flirting with perfection. Reed picked up three more birdies coming home, marching to 14 under and putting serious daylight between himself and the rest of the field at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.
Afterwards, he admitted it hadn’t all felt as comfortable as the score suggested.
“Obviously at the end, it was definitely solid and good score at the end. There early in the round, just didn’t really settle out. I think the biggest thing right now is the driving. I feel like I’m driving the ball a little better right now. You know, early this week, just seeing a couple putts go in, after last year, I felt like it was one of those kind of half of the seasons where I felt like I was doing a lot of things really well.
I was hitting a lot of putts and the balls weren’t going in. There were a lot of burned edges. Once I saw it go in this week, seems like the putter is back behaving doing what it’s supposed to, and allows me to free the rest up the rest of my golf game.
“You’re always excited, showing up on Sunday with a lead. I feel like that’s what I feel like all of us live for as players, competitors, to have a chance to win on Sundays and play late on Sundays and just battle out with all the guys.
I know it’s not going to be easy, it never is, and doesn’t matter how big of a lead you have. Looking forward to tomorrow and just hopefully go out there and keep doing what I’m doing, putting well and hitting fairways and greens.”
The 2018 Masters champion clearly believes the putter – that fickle little lie detector – has finally started telling him the truth again. If it keeps “behaving”, as he puts it, the rest of the field may need more than sunshine and optimism to catch him.
Puig Flies into Second with a Late Charge
If Reed was the headline act, David Puig was the surprise support band that nearly stole the show. The Spaniard surged into solo second with a stunning 66, capped by a birdie-birdie finish that nudged him to ten under and at least within shouting distance of the lead.
His front nine was a masterclass in controlled aggression, with Puig attacking pins as if they’d insulted his family. Even when things wobbled, he managed to save momentum at crucial moments.
“It was a great day from start to finish, and obviously played really well on the front nine. Saved a great par on eight, and you know, birdie on nine to that pin is a real bonus. And 11, hit one of the worst shots of my life, and you know, managed to hit good putts really fast, which allowed me to finish well.
“Obviously try to attack a little bit. We were a little behind, and seeing Patrick Reed and all the guys that are up there are really good players, so I know I needed a good one. Still a little behind but it’s going really well.
But hopefully, you know, tomorrow we have a good chance. Just try and hit fairways and greens to be honest. Just try to put the ball in the fairway as much as I can, and from there, try to be as aggressive as I can. There’s some holes and positions where you need to be a little more conservative, and yeah, I mean, try to stick to that. Hopefully make a bunch of birdies.”
Puig knows he will need another low one if he’s to overturn Reed’s advantage in the final round of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, but he’s given himself precisely what every player wants on Saturday night: a reason to dream.
Hovland, Sullivan and a Crowded Chase Pack
Lurking just behind Puig is a name that tends to cause mild anxiety in leaderboards everywhere. Viktor Hovland, the 2022 champion here, carded a tidy round to reach nine under, tied with Englishman Andy Sullivan.
Sullivan’s day looked in danger of unravelling after back-to-back bogeys at the eighth and ninth, but he bounced back with three birdies on the back nine to reinsert himself into the conversation. Hovland, meanwhile, continues to stalk the leaders in that infuriatingly calm way of his, like a man who’s misplaced a major championship and is quietly determined to find another one.
Behind them, the Italian duo of Francesco Molinari and Andrea Pavan share fifth at eight under. What began as Molinari’s charge turned into Reed’s show, but the former Open champion remains close enough to be dangerous if the wind, the greens, or Reed’s patience decide to turn on Sunday.
Denmark’s Thorbjørn Olesen and Spain’s Jorge Campillo sit at seven under, within range if someone decides to throw a 63 into the mix. A shot further back at six under is a bunched group that reads like a roll call from European Tour Q-School: Nicolai Højgaard; South Africans Jayden Schaper, Hennie du Plessis and amateur Christiaan Maas; plus French pair Julien Guerrier and Martin Couvra.
It is exactly the kind of leaderboard a tournament director dreams of and a frontrunner quietly dreads – packed with ball-strikers, former champions and a couple of fearless youngsters with nothing to lose.
Sunday Showdown in the Desert
So Sunday at Emirates Golf Club now promises what the Hero Dubai Desert Classic does best: high-wire golf in front of a skyline that looks like it’s been Photoshopped for television. Reed has the cushion, Puig has the momentum, and the chasers have just enough proximity to stir up trouble if the leader’s swing or temper decides to wander.
Reed has been clear about what he expects and what he wants.
He is driving it better. His putter is finally listening to reason. And he arrives at the final round with the one thing every professional secretly craves: a target on his back and something worth losing.
For everyone else, the assignment is brutally simple: hit more fairways, hit closer irons, hole more putts and hope the man in front looks over his shoulder one time too many.
If he does, this Hero Dubai Desert Classic might just have one more twist left in it.
