Four-Way Tie at Qatar Masters


There's a logjam atop the leaderboard after 54 holes of the Qatar Masters. A quartet of players stand at 13-under 203 in the European Tour event, which began with an unusual Wednesday start - and will have a Saturday finish - at Doha Golf Club.

The co-leaders are South African Branden Grace, Scotland's Marc Warren, Austria's Bernd Wiesberger and Argentina's Emiliano Grillo, who recorded scores of 68, 67, 68 and 67, respectively.

Grace and Wiesberger started the third round sharing the lead with South African George Coetzee. Grace, who drew worldwide attention with four victories between January and October 2012 but didn't return to the winner's circle until the Alfred Dunhill Championship in December, posted six birdies and two bogeys, while Wiesberger had five birdies and a bogey on the 16th hole.

One of Grace's birdies came after he drove into the trees at the par-4 fifth but managed to snap-hook a wedge onto the green and hole-out from 6 feet. He also had three birdies on the back nine.

"It was nice to bounce back the way I did and great to finish off the round with a good birdie on 18," the 26-year-old from Pretoria told the European Tour's website. "I'm pretty happy with the round and I'm still in the position where I want to be.

"I'm not going to say that it's given; I still have to get up and still have to do the same things, and you still have to play good golf. These guys are good and we all play to win and we are all there for a reason. I'm just going to try to do the same tomorrow and hopefully can be one better."

Wiesberger is also pleased with his position heading into Saturday's final round. "It's nice to start the day in the lead and hang on to it," said the 29-year-old, a two-time European Tour winner. "Everybody seems to be playing really well and I enjoyed it out there.

"It was just that bad swing on 16 which cost me a bogey, so it's really a two-shot swing on a short hole like that. I finished nicely with a birdie and it gives me a bit of momentum for tomorrow."

The 22-year-old Grillo had a spotless five-birdie outing to get in position for his first title on the European circuit. "I hit the ball better today, so I've got a good feeling for tomorrow and want to try to get my first win," said Grillo, who resides in Bradenton, Fla.

"It's going to be a complicated day tomorrow, but it's not going to be as tough as today. This is what I play for. This is what I have practiced for my entire life. Tomorrow I have a great chance of taking my first trophy home. You have to learn first to win out here and I think I've learned a lot and I think I'm ready."

The 33-year-old Warren, a three-time winner whose latest title came last August in Denmark, had four birdies in his first 10 holes and came home with two more birdies along with a bogey at the par-4 14th. "The last few years I've shown a lot of progress again," Warren told the European Tour's website.

"I came close a couple times but didn't quite go over the line, and that was something that came quite easily at the start of my career. Every time I was in contention, I seemed to win. I'm confident in my ability to do that and it was nice to actually prove it again [in Denmark]. It's one thing to be confident and to actually do it is another thing. I've definitely got a spring in my step."

Two behind the leaders are England's Eddie Pepperell, who fired the low third round of 65, Spain's Alejandro Canizares (68), and Coetzee, who shot a 70.

After starting the third round just three strokes out of the lead, defending champion Sergio Garcia had a tough day. The 35-year-old was 2-under through 10, but, despite another birdie, had three bogeys, a double-bogey and a triple for a 6-over 42 and a 5-over 77. Garcia dropped into a tie for 62nd at 1-under 215.

No. 2-ranked Henrik Stenson of Sweden carded his second straight 71 and is at 212. No. 5 Justin Rose of England rebounded from a second-round 73 with a 69 and stands at 210, seven strokes out of the lead.

For all the scores, visit http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2015/tournamentid=2015004/leaderboard/index.html.