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Graeme McDowell has another chance at his first European Tour in nearly six years.
The 40-year-old from Northern Ireland has a one-shot lead over former Ryder Cup partner Victor Dubuisson after 54 holes at the 2020 Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers.
“I always tell my kids we live in a nice house because daddy can putt, that’s about the heart of it, really,” McDowell said after his round. “The putter’s been a little ice cold the last sort of two rounds but I got it heated back up on the back nine today and I’m going to have to putt well to have a chance tomorrow.”
Leaderboard: Saudi International
McDowell shot a 4-under 66 to sit at 12 under after Saturday’s third round action at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club in Saudi Arabia. Dubuisson carded a bogey-free 5-under 65 to reach 11 under, followed by Gavin Green in third at 9 under.
The two haven’t played together since the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, where they earned two points for the Europeans who claimed a third consecutive victory over the Americans.
“We shared a car up to the course this morning and I was chatting with him and I always look out for him, great experiences with him in 2014 at Gleneagles,” McDowell said of his time with Dubuisson. “He’s such a great guy, he hasn’t had the best form the last few years and I’m really, really happy to see him at the top of the leaderboard and looking forward to being with him tomorrow. It’s going to be tough to try and play tough against him but we’re both competitors and we’ll go out there and try and do our job.”
Defending champion Dustin Johnson, Victor Perez and Renato Paratore are T-4 at 7 under, with World No. 1 Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson and Thomas Detry T-7 at 6 under. Ross Fisher rounds out the top 10 at 5 under.
[opinary poll=”would-you-take-money-play-saudi-internat” customer=”golfweek”]
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