Liam Nolan will take a two-stroke lead into the final round of the Abu Dhabi Challenge after carding a seven under par third round of 63 at Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting & Golf Club.
The Irishman, who started moving day in a share of the lead with Finn Tapio Pulkkanen and Belgian Matthis Besard, fired seven birdies during his bogey-free effort to reach 16 under par for the week.
Nolan is in the midst of his second full HotelPlanner Tour season and is excited to embrace the final round nerves as he contends for his maiden professional title.
“I’m sure there will be some nerves that I haven’t felt the first three days but nerves are great,” he said.
“I was pretty nervous when I played the Irish Open but it’s such a cool and fun experience to be nervous and for shots to matter a little bit more.
“It will be the same gameplan and to stick to what I’ve been doing, and we will see where we sit at the end of the tomorrow.”
After parring his opening three holes, Nolan picked up his first gain at the drivable par four fourth before adding back-to-back birdies on holes six and seven.
Three under par as he made the turn, the 26-year-old carded his fourth birdie of the day on the tenth to reach 13 under. Gains on 12 and 14 would follow with a final birdie on the difficult 16th helping the man from Galway pull clear at the top.
Pars on 17 and 18 capped a fine day’s work, with Nolan particularly pleased with his back nine performance in Al Ain.
“I played pretty well on the back nine which was fun because Tapio was also making birdies, so we were bouncing off each other a little bit,” he added.
“I hit lots of nice solid shots into 15 feet and the putter was working well. There’s some pins I didn’t really want to take on due to the steep run-offs but the putter was the main reason for the birdies.
“I’m just going to keep riding this nice wave of good swing thoughts and the ball going straight.”
Nolan currently sits in 43rd position on the Road to Mallorca, just inside the provisional cut-off for the season-ending Grand Final at the end of October. A victory in the UAE, however, would see the Irishman jump up to 13th position, inside the promotion places and on course to earn DP World Tour playing rights for the 2027 season.
Despite the stakes, the 26-year-old is remaining solely focussed on continuing his impressive form in the Middle East.
“I’m not looking at the Rankings at all,” the Irishman said. “I’ve found out in amateur golf when you look too far ahead you end up disappointed.
“I want to stay patient, control what I can control and enjoy myself as much as I can and then we’ll look at the Rankings when the season’s done.”
Pulkkanen, who is chasing his second HotelPlanner Tour win of the season, holds solo second following a third round 65, one shot clear of Italian Matteo Cristoni and Switzerland’s Benjamin Rusch.
The final round of the Abu Dhabi Challenge gets under way at 7:00am local time with Nolan, Pulkkanen and Cristoni teeing off in the final group at 8:50am.
