Dunne fancies his Abu Dhabi chances after super 66

Paul Dunne

Paul Dunne made an eagle and five birdies in a six under par 66 to surge into contention for his maiden European Tour win in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

The Greystones man, 24, ended the day tied for third on 10 under par with England's Tommy Fleetwood (67), just two strokes behind three-time event winner Martin Kaymer, whose 66 gave him a one shot lead on 12 under par from Spain's Rafa Cabrera Bello (66) 

"I was pretty steady for both rounds, hit a lot of greens," said Dunne, who opened with a 68. "I gave myself a lot of chances, made a few and missed a few. So I'd say it's a pretty fair result.

"My game is in good shape — I am happy with the last two days and hopefully I can do the same for the next two days."

Starting on the back nine, Dunne birdied the par-five 10th and the par-three 15th, then eagled the par-five 18th to turn in 32.

He birdied the first and second, bogeyed the third but then birdied the sixth before parring his way home.

On his hopes for the weekend, he said: "It's nice to be up there again. That's why we practice and what we prepare for.

"So it's going to be nice to be in one of the later groups tomorrow and hopefully I can play like I did for the last couple of days over the weekend and I will have a good chance."

Ranked 45th in the Race to Dubai after a couple of top 30 finishes in Hong Hong and South Africa  before Christmas, Dunne said he did little practice over the winter before heading to Dubai last week to sharpen up his game..

"Everyone wants to [hit the ground running]," he told Sky Sport. "How important it is, I don't know. It might give you a bit of momentum."

Overnight leader Henrik Stenson shot a 71 to lurk just three shots off the lead in a tie for fifth place with Korea's Jeunghun Wang and former winner Pablo Larrazábal of Spain on nine under par.

Peter Uihlein is the leading American in joint 10th on seven under with stars Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler eight off the pace on four under after a brace of 68s.

Masters champion Danny Willett had a quadruple bogey nine on his card as he added a 76 to his opening 74 to miss the cut by eight shots and finish alongside Darren Clarke (75 75) on six over. 

from News - Irish Golf Desk http://ift.tt/2jU8k3m