ABU DHABI: Ireland’s Liam Nolan will take a two-stroke lead into the final round of the Abu Dhabi Challenge after a bogey-free, seven-under-par 63 at Al-Ain Equestrian, Shooting & Golf Club.
Nolan started the third round sharing the lead with Finland’s Tapio Pulkkanen and Belgium’s Matthis Besard. Seven birdies took him to 16 under par for the week. Pulkkanen holds solo second after a 65, one shot clear of Italy’s Matteo Cristoni and Switzerland’s Benjamin Rusch.
The 26-year-old from Galway is in his second full HotelPlanner Tour season and chasing his first professional title. He said he was looking forward to the nerves that come with it.
“I’m sure there will be some nerves that I haven’t felt the first three days but nerves are great,” he said.
“I was pretty nervous when I played the Irish Open but it’s such a cool and fun experience to be nervous and for shots to matter a little bit more. It will be the same gameplan and to stick to what I’ve been doing, and we will see where we sit at the end of tomorrow.”
After three opening pars, Nolan picked up his first shot at the drivable par-four fourth and added back-to-back birdies at the sixth and seventh. He turned in three under, then birdied the 10th to reach 13 under. Further gains followed at the 12th and 14th, and a birdie at the difficult 16th took him clear at the top. He closed with pars at the 17th and 18th.
“I played pretty well on the back nine, which was fun because Tapio was also making birdies, so we were bouncing off each other a little bit,” he said. “I hit lots of nice solid shots into 15 feet and the putter was working well. There’s some pins I didn’t really want to take on due to the steep run-offs but the putter was the main reason for the birdies.
“I’m just going to keep riding this nice wave of good swing thoughts and the ball going straight.”
Nolan has a lot riding on Saturday. He sits 43rd on the Road to Mallorca Rankings, just inside the top 45 who qualify for the season-ending grand final at the end of October. A win in the UAE would lift him to 13th, putting him in the promotion places and on course for DP World Tour playing rights in 2027.
Despite the stakes, Nolan is keeping his attention on his golf.
“I’m not looking at the rankings at all,” he said. “I’ve found out in amateur golf when you look too far ahead you end up disappointed. I want to stay patient, control what I can control and enjoy myself as much as I can and then we’ll look at the Rankings when the season’s done.”
Pulkkanen, a two-time HotelPlanner Tour winner, is chasing his second title of the season after winning the Danish Golf Challenge earlier this year.
The Abu Dhabi Challenge is staged with co-organizer and sanctioning body the Emirates Golf Federation and supported by Abu Dhabi Sports Council. The Al-Ain Region is Arab Tourism Capital for 2026.
The final round gets under way at 7.00am on Saturday with Nolan, Pulkkanen and Cristoni making up the final group at 8.50am. Spectator admission is free of charge.
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