Uihlein takes lead into final round of International Series Qatar
DOHA, Qatar - LIV Golf star Peter Uihlein who played for RangeGoats GC in 2024 shot a 1-under 71 to take a one-shot lead into the final round of the US$2.5 million International Series Qatar.
He is 13-under through three rounds at Doha Golf Club while Zach Bauchou is solo second after a third-round 2-under 70.
Several LIV Golf members from 2024 are also in the mix. Stinger GC Captain Louis Oosthuizen is T5 and five shots off the lead. Fellow LIV Golf members from 2024 also looking to make a final-round run are Eugenio Chacarra, David Puig and Charl Schwartzel, who are all T7 and six shots back.
Among the LIV Golf members from the 2024 season who will look for a strong close in Round 4 include Patrick Reed (T12), Anirban Lahiri (T12), Branden Grace (T16), Kieran Vincent (T16), Dean Burmester (T16), Scott Vincent (T22), Jinichiro Kozuma (T27), Thomas Pieters (T33), Kalle Samooja (T49), Brendan Steele (T55) and Matt Jones (T55).
Anthony Kim, who played as a Wild Card in 2024, is T49.
LIV Golf reserve player John Catlin shot 2-under 70 and is T27. He is gradually moving closer to winning the Asian Tour Order of Merit title with none of his nearest pursuers making a challenge.
As for Uihlein, it was just over a month ago when he was on the brink of winning the International Series Thailand but surrendered a two-shot lead on the final hole to finish second behind Chinese-Taipei’s Lee Chieh-po. That occurred not long after he won the International Series England – his first on both the Asian Tour and The International Series.
On Friday, Uihlein began the day two ahead of Bauchou and that lead held at the turn. Uihlein made birdie on the first, but on another difficult and windy day with firm and fast greens, more birdies where hard to come by. He made bogeys on Nos. 3 and 14 before his fine finish.
“Yeah, it was hard but I’m pleased," Uihlein said. "I hit 16 greens so my two bogeys were on the greens that I missed. So other than that it was pretty steady. I don’t feel like I was really ever out of position. And it was a tough day. I mean, really tough. ... It blew all day yesterday, blew all night and morning, so it was only going to get crispier. So, the greens definitely felt like they had a little bit more bite to them today, and it was tough to get close.”
Uihlein is also in the running to win The International Series Rankings with just one more event remaining, next week’s PIF Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers. He is currently in fourth place and could overtake Catlin with a win.
Bauchou also finished well with birdies on Nos. 13, 16 and 18.
“No doubt it was a tough day,” said Bauchou, who has been playing on the Korn Ferry Tour. “It was hard to get the ball close to the hole. There are only a couple of birdieable holes out here with the par 5s and 16 as a driveable par-4 but the rest of the course is hard to get it close. ... Need to just try and grind and make pars on those holes and when you get on a par 5 you try and make a birdie. I will just try and play the best I can and try and play pretty aggressive tomorrow. I will hit driver on almost every hole out here.
(Photo by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour)