RIFFA, Bahrain (AP) — Dylan Frittelli took a two-shot lead at the Bahrain Championship despite a bogey on the final hole of a 3-under 69 in the third round on Saturday.
The South African was in a three-way tie for the lead after Friday’s second round but Jesper Svensson (72) and Joel Girrbach (74) both struggled in the third. Ockie Strydom, another South African, moved into second place after matching Frittelli’s 69, while Svensson was alone in third place.
Frittelli made three straight birdies around the turn and added two more before missing a six-footer for par on the 18th and settling for a second bogey of the day. He was on a 12-under total of 204.
“I’m happy, it was another tough day in the wind and I seemed to handle it pretty well,” Frittelli said. “It’s a pity about the two bogeys I made out there but I fought really hard today.”
Frittelli holed the winning putt for Texas when it won the NCAA title in 2012, won twice on the European tour in 2017 and lifted the trophy at the 2019 John Deere Classic in his rookie season on the PGA tour.
But he had a rough 2023 on the PGA tour, missing the cut or withdrawing from 23 of his 27 starts, and lost his full playing privileges.
The Bahrain Championship is a new tournament on the European tour schedule and the fourth of five straight weeks to start 2024 in the Middle East. The tour was last in Bahrain for the debut of the now-defunct Volvo Tournament of Champions in 2011.
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