By Kent Gray
After a moving day that more closely resembled a game of snakes and ladders, good luck trying to figure out who is going to cling on to the top of the NBO Oman Open leaderboard and claim the European Tour’s newest title.

Frenchman Julien Guerrier, Joost Luiten of The Netherlands and Englishman Matthew Southgate will start the final round of the $1.75 million event tied for the lead at 12 under par, a shot ahead of Chris Wood. Every one within five strokes of the lead – 13 players in all – will fancy their chances but if Saturday’s topsy-turvy scoring at Al Mouj is any indication, the final round in Muscat is going to a dramatic shootout peppered with red, blue and even black numbers.

If you’re looking for momentum going into Sunday, look no further than the trio of leaders.

Guerrier, Guerrier and Southgate took turns to birdie the testy par-4 18th to cap rounds of 66, 66 and 69 respectively. Southgate’s gain was achieved with the longest putt and was arguably the most impressive, a gritty way to sign of a schizophrenic round which saw him start with three successive birdies to go from two behind starting the third round to three ahead as overnight leader Matthieu Pavon was bitten by the snake early and faded to a 75.

But Southgate, suddenly losing his already quick rhythm, then dropped four shots in the space of four holes before a birdie on nine readied the ship and lightened the Englishman’s equilibrium.

“It was quite funny really, we birdied the ninth and I walked off and said to my caddie Gary, ‘that was nine pars Gaz, I don’t know what you’re talking about’,” said Southgate.

“He laughed and I said, ‘I’m serious, we can create any outcome that we want in our mind and we’ve just shot level par for nine holes so let’s just pretend that we’ve made nine solid pars, that we haven’t holed a putt, haven’t made a birdie and let’s just start again on the tenth.

 “That’s exactly what we did and we executed the game plan and I’ve got a 69 on the card, so it was a good day’s work.”

Southgate, who is in the hunt for his first title, resolved to take the same positive mindset into Sunday.

 “I’d love to get a win over the line but ultimately I need to learn everything I can moving forwards,” he said.  “I think that’s really important tomorrow – to be open minded enough that whatever the outcome, we’ve got to take new things on board and realise that this might be a position that we might end up in a few more times, maybe this season or the rest of my career so that’s the goal – hit good shots, make good decisions but learn stuff as well.” 

Guerrier, who won twice on the Challenge Tour last season to secure his European Tour card, bookended his round with birdies and while there was an eagle on the 12th, his 66 was blemished with a pair of front nine bogeys.

MUSCAT, OMAN – FEBRUARY 17: Julien Guerrier of France celebtares his birdie on the opening hole during the third round of the NBO Oman Open at Al Mouj Golf on February 17, 2018 in Muscat, Oman. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

He’ll look to cash in on his Al Mouj knowledge Sunday.

“I’ve played four times here so I know the course quite well and I think it made the difference as on some holes you can go for it, and some you can’t, so I think it helped.

“I’ve played a lot of years on the Challenge Tour – I’ve played a couple of years on the European Tour in the past too and I want to stay here now.”

Of all the leaders, Luiten was the tidiest on moving day and crucially has the pedigree to kick on from successive 66s.

 “It was another perfect day,” said the 32-year-old who is searching for his sixth win on the European Tour and his first since capturing his home KLM Open in 2016.

MUSCAT, OMAN – FEBRUARY 16: Joost Luiten of Netherlands finnishes off his round on the par four 9th green during the second round of the NBO Oman Open at Al Mouj Golf on February 16, 2018 in Muscat, Oman. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

“There was some wind in the afternoon, but it was a light breeze which cooled things down beautifully. I played good golf. I played solid and did not get into any trouble. One bogey and seven birdies…what more do you want?”

Wood seemed to be cruising along until a pair of bogeys on the 17th and 18th proved his snakebite. He was lucky though – a members bounce off the rocks on the 18th could have go the other way into the Gulf of Oman and he is very much in the mix for his first win since the 2016 BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth after missing three successive cuts to start 2018.

Dubai-domiciled Spaniard Adrian Oteagui sits at 10 under after a faultless 66 while Frenchman Alexander Levy, the highest ranked player in the field at No.62, signed for a 67 to get to -9. Levy has added motivation to ride the ladder Sunday –  currently 11th in the Race to Dubai standings, he needs to squeeze into the top 10 to secure a spot in next month’s WGC-Mexico Championship.