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ABU DHABI: Shane Lowry moved into position to win the Abu Dhabi Championship for a second time but the Irishman has plenty of company on a stacked leaderboard.
That includes, out of nowhere, his compatriot and fellow major winner Padraig Harrington.
Lowry, the 2019 champion, shot 6-under 66 to tie for the third-round lead on Saturday with Francesco Molinari and Min Woo Lee at 13-under overall.
There were 12 players within three shots of the joint leaders and among them is the 51-year-old Harrington, who shot 64.
Lowry, who began the day three shots off the lead, eagled the par-4 sixth when he holed out from the fairway. He added five birdies and one bogey.
鈥淔irst tournament of the year, you don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 going to happen,鈥� the 35-year-old Irishman said.
鈥淢y thing would be I try and give myself as many chances to win as I can and at some stage hopefully it happens. Tomorrow I鈥檝e got a chance to go out there and do something special, so hopefully I can bring the game that I brought the last few days and roll a few putts in as well and you never know.鈥�
Australian Lee made seven birdies and one bogey in his 66, with the highlight coming at the short fourth as he almost made a hole-in-one.
Molinari, co-leader at the halfway point, had birdies at the second and third but bogeyed the fifth before staging a strong back nine that saw the Italian pick up shots at the 10th and 18th to shoot 69.
鈥淒efinitely it鈥檚 going to be sort of a shootout tomorrow,鈥� Molinari said.
鈥淭here鈥檚 loads of guys with a chance.鈥�
Grant Forrest of Scotland, Victor Perez of France and Sebastian S枚derberg of Sweden are one shot off the lead.
Harrington, a three-time major champion, is in the four-strong group another stroke back.