Gonzalo Fernández Castaño (-11) shot under seventy in his third round of the week at the Doha Golf Club (69 shots), although his chance at the win has been notably reduced, finishing five shots away from the leaders, British golfers Fisher and Pepperell, in a round with lots of birdies.
The Spanish golfer’s first nine holes were almost flawless, with a partial score of three under par on that stretch, followed by one additional birdie on the 14th hole. However, Gonzalo wasn’t able to take advantage of the tail end of the Qatari course, where birdies usually come in abundance on the 16th and 18th holes, which together with a bogey on the 15th hole (once again from the middle of the fairway, just like in the second round), pushed him too far away from the lead.
He shouldn’t be counted out of the fight for the win just yet, but there’s no doubt he’ll have to pull off a big final round. In any case, the improvement in his game is notable compared to last week in Oman, on the right track again, shown throughout the better part of 2018. The last round will start early due to a bad weather forecast (storms are expected at midday), which means Gonzalo will play with Spanish golfer Pablo Larrazábal and French golfer Mike Lorenzo Vera starting at 5:50 am (Spanish time).
