Warren Little/Getty Images

By Kent Gray
Darren Fichardt suspects he’ll need every ounce of the experience garnered from a five-win European Tour career to join an illustrious list of two-time winners of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters on Sunday.

The 45-year-old South African will take a one-stroke buffer into the final round of the $1.5 million event at Education City Golf Club after ascending to the summit of the leaderboard with a topsy-turvy, windswept 70 on Saturday.

On the cusp of his first European Tour win since the 2017 Joburg Open and second Mother of Pearl trophy in 2003, Fichardt (-7) will be joined in the final three-ball by Englishman Jack Senior (-6) and India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar (-5).

The 11.03am trio will be especially mindful of the three-ball directly ahead of them: three-time European Tour winner and 2014 Ryder Cup clincher Jamie Donaldson, inaugural Golf in Dubai Championship winner Antonie Rozner and Dane Joachim. B Hansen who won the Joburg Open in November.

Mind you, If Doha dishes up more of the wild and windy conditions that have marked the first three days of the resumption of the European Tour season, Fichardt won’t be so focused on other names, rather his own game. He knows how one controls the uncontrollable, especially in the wind, will determine whether he joins Adam Scott, Paul Lawrie and Branden Grace as a two-time Qatar champion.

“It’s tough [out there] because you can hit a great putt or shot and still end in disaster,” Fichardt said of the enduring challenge of the Jose Maria Olazabal-designed Education City G.C.

“You have to commit to whatever you are going to do, stick through with it and where the ball went, it went. Not put too much thought into it or get down on myself.

“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.  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. Tomorrow will be quite a fight. We’ll take whatever comes our way and see what happens.

Fichardt’s ability to park the bad shots was critical in the third round peppered with five birdies, two bogeys and a double-bogey on the par-5 13th.

Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
Fichardt and his wife/caddie Natasha during Saturday’s third round.

“When I started today I couldn’t get the pace right, the greens sped up significantly with the wind. I was three-whacking like it was going out of fashion, on every green. Luckily I figured my swing out on the range before I teed off. I said to my wife [and caddie Natasha] to give ourselves opportunities and to try and get our first putt past the hole. When they started dropping I started to get a nice rhythm and a nice flow.

“Then I got to the par-five 13 – that’s a hell of a par five, plus wind. I walked off there making a double and felt a bit out of sorts. I three-whacked the next green. I tried to gather my thoughts and realise it’s tough out there, everyone was struggling and to try and finish with a couple of pars coming home – luckily I got two birdies.”

Bhullar is chasing a second European Tour title after capturing the 2018 Fiji International while Senior, also 32, is seeking a maiden main tour title to go with two Challenge Tour wins.