Day three digest: 2021 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters

Everything you need to know from Moving Day at Education City Golf Club.

Darren defied the devilish winds, Kurt experienced the good, the bad and the good bad, and everyone was made to work for their scores on day three of the 2021 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.

Here is everything you need to know from Saturday in Doha.

Fichardt going with the flow

We may be at a different venue to the one where Darren Fichardt won this event in 2003 but the coastal winds of Doha are still the same. At 45 years of age and with five wins and 398 events under his belt, the South African has seen it all before and he used all of his guile to card an excellent 70 and move into a one shot lead at seven under. That wealth of experience applies not only to his game but his mindset, and Fichardt will not be putting too much pressure on himself on Sunday. "I’m doing my best and if I’m making a big number then I’m making a big number, that’s just how it is," he said. "I think the guys who are trying to win their first event, they are trying to win. If you’ve won a few times you know it’s about doing the best you can do. The sun shines on everyone, if it’s your week, it’s your week. It’s about doing the best you can do."

Wedge wizardry

An awkward yardage, an uneven stance and a howling wind. Not a problem for Fichardt.

It's tough out there

It says a lot about the conditions over days two and three that the leading score after 54 holes is exactly the same as it was after 18. On Saturday, only four players managed to shoot under par and one of them was Gaganjeet Bhullar with a sensational 68. "Today was more mentally challenging than physically," he said. "I’ve played a lot of rounds in the past where we have experienced this kind of wind but this was different. On a lot of the holes there were crosswinds and we hadn’t experienced this direction of wind over the last three or four days, this was a new experience for all of us. Playing in wind anywhere in the world isn’t easy." Jack Senior fired a level par 71 and perhaps he summed it up best. "That was a battle from start to finish," he said. "I got off to a half-decent start, quite a quick start really. Then the wind started gusting on the back nine, you just had to hang on for dear life."

We all like a good shot.........

And Kurt Kitayama certainly produced one of those on the ninth.

But is there anything more satisfying than a good bad one?

Because Kurt had one of those as well.

Right at it

There's on the mark and then there's on the mark. Never quite sure if these are good luck or bad. Although knowing Brandon Stone, he may have been going for it.