Russell Knox was not impressed with his performance on the third day of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Hosted by the Rory Foundation but will head into Sunday just four shots behind leader Rory McIlroy.
The Scotsman has had to overcome some adversity this week after cracking the face of his driver and having to borrow one from friend David Lingmerth, with testing conditions making life tough for all of the players on Saturday.
But the WGC - HSBC Champions winner showed his battling qualities to post a round of 70 and set the clubhouse target at five under, with the only men above him - McIlroy and Masters Tournament champion Danny Willett - having to return to complete their rounds on Sunday morning.
Knox's 70 was actually the joint third-best round of the day and he was happy with his score at The K Club, if not with the way he got there.
"I played horrible to be honest," he said. "I hit it all over the place and managed to just salvage a round somehow, getting up and down. I birdied some of the par fives and I'm thrilled with 70.
I didn't play my best today but I was very proud of how I hung in there, and I chipped and putted nicely and kept the round alive - Russell Knox
"Hopefully I'll just play like I did on Friday and then I'll have a chance. It just comes down to if I can get the ball in play off the tee to be honest and see if I can putt. I'm looking forward to it.
"I'm in a great position."
Knox did have a remarkable stroke of luck on the 16th when his ball bounced onto the green after hitting the rocks and he conceded he had gotten out of trouble to record a birdie after his approach shot.
"I had a good hybrid distance and I just chunked it," he added. "I had given up on it to be honest and when I saw it hit the rock, I was like, 'that's going forward'. So I was very fortunate there."
