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By Kent Gray
Bryson DeChambeau has pole-position, Haotong Li a more than decent shot at defending and Matt Wallace a little piece of desert pedigree to go with the ample self belief he can make it tricky for both frontrunners on Sunday.

After skyrocketing 44 places up the leaderboard to within six shots of DeChambeau’s 16-under-par pace, even Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston, the biggest, ahem, moo-ver on Saturday with his eight birdie 65, is an outside shout.

What none of the contenders chasing the famed Dallah can count on though is the intangible help Ernie Els will carry with him in his bid for a fairytale fourth Omega Dubai Desert Classic title.

Those beyond the ropes don’t hit the shots that win big championships within them but the Big Easy will surely have the final round galleries in his corner at Emirates Golf Club.

The three-time champion inched rather than roared forward on moving day, a bogey-free two-under 70 nudging the big South African to -13. He’ll start three shots adrift of DeChambeau and knows a quick start Sunday is needed to put some heat on the world No.5 who looks comfortable even without his “A-Game”. What better way to feast on birdies though than to feed off the sentimental galleries?

While others around him struggled, including playing partner Alvaro Quiros who had three bogeys and a closing double in his 71 to sit at -12, Els kept plugging away. You don’t win tournaments on moving day but you can easily lose them and there was no fear of that from the 49-year-old.

“Yeah, I made some good par saving putts, especially on the front. The greens got quicker, and to get my pace was quite tough as I was far away from the hole. It was really a grind for me today. I feel quite tired,” Els said.

“I kind of predicted yesterday that the course might play a little firmer and I found it difficult to get the ball close to the hole. So I didn’t have great birdie chances. I hit a lot of greens not maybe as close as I wanted to, but still fought out a 70, so I’ve got to be satisfied.”

Els made the second of his two birdies on the Majlis’ 18th and has history on the closing hole – who can forget that four iron through the trees to set up a title clinching eagle for his second victory in 2002 – to hopefully help him home if he’s still in contention.

“They have moved the fairway around a bit. In the old days, my tee shot today would have been perfect, but I caught the rough, and they are bringing the water in play. So it’s a little bit more of a difficult tee shot than the old days, but still, if you get it in the fairway, you can make eagle.”

Els shares third place with Wallace who won three of his four European Tour titles in a breakout 2018 which also included a T-2 at the DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates. The 28-year-old Englishman signed for a 69 on Saturday, a score he described as “about par”.

“I needed that just to stay in contention really… three-under was probably about par,” said the world No.45. “I left everything [putts] in the jaws short which was frustrating, so hopefully they will drop tomorrow.

“I just said to Dave [caddie David ‘Gromit’ McNeilly] on 18 after the tee shot, I said it’s good to get the season started off and get the juices flowing and being in contention and hopefully have a chance tomorrow.”