Day three digest: 2020 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship

Everything you need to know from Moving Day at the first Rolex Series event of the 2020 Race to Dubai.

Westwood took flight, Wiesberger stalked history, Laporta stayed in touch and everyone was feline fine in round three of the 2020 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA.

Here is everything you need to know from the third day at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.

Eagle sends Westy soaring

It was nip and tuck early on day three with an eight way tie at the top and 40 players within three of top spot at one point. Then this happened.

Lee Westwood went two clear and while that lead was pegged back to one by the end of play, the Englishman is in pole position for a second Rolex Series win. "I'm just going to go out there and play as well as I can and if it's good enough, then great," he said. "I know I'm talented enough to win the tournament, it's just a case of applying myself."

Wiesberger chasing history

Bernd Wiesberger is one shot behind Westwood and will be after a unique pair of trebles on Sunday. A victory will make him the first player to win three different Rolex Series events and the first to hold three Rolex Series trophies at the same time. It's all a far cry from 12 months ago when he was in the early stages of his comeback after seven months out with a wrist injury. "It's worlds apart from last year," he said. "Anybody who has been an injured athlete and coming back from that, you never know quite how you'll perform and certainly I wasn't performing to the standard I was maybe used to or expecting of myself. It's tough to adjust and keep doing the things that you think are right. I think I did that well and obviously getting the win under my belt earlyish in the year, that really helped my self-confidence and we were able to progress from there nicely. It's been a lot of changes in the last 12 months for sure."

Laporta eyeing the big one

Francesco Laporta knows how to get over the line. After starting 2019 with no professional wins, he claimed two on the European Challenge Tour to take the season long Road to Mallorca trophy and return to the European Tour. He heads into the final day in the desert chasing a Rolex Series victory. Only Jon Rahm has ever before tasted their first European Tour win in the Rolex Series. "It would be just a dream," he said. "I just want to think about my score and my game. Trying not to see the leaderboard, it's not going to be easy, here's going to be leaderboards everywhere. I think it's going to be a good day tomorrow."

Paws at the top of the backswing

We see a few animals on the European Tour - from the big five in South Africa, to the kangaroos in Australia and the alligators in the United States. But we don't get many cats, and certainly not in bunkers..........

Beware the injured golfer

Ross Fisher has not been feeling well this week but you would not have known it on Saturday. He may have ended 2019 on a high with a top ten at the Turkish Airlines Open but that was his only top ten in a season that saw him achieve his lowest Rankings finish since getting on Tour 14 years ago. Well, as they say, class is permanent, and the Ryder Cup star was back in the top ten heading into day four. He was pretty pleased about it.