Pádraig Harrington’s hopes of Dubai finale fade in Turkey

Pádraig Harrington’s quest to gatecrash the European Tour’s finale in Dubai next week became even more of an uphill climb after a third round 71 left him seven-under-par in the Turkish Airlines Open here at the Montgomerie Maxx Royal course in Belek.

It saw him drop some 14 places down the leaderboard to a share of 39th and further away from the top-10 finish required.

Asked what he felt he needed to do in Sunday’s final round, the Dubliner put the target at a finishing 63, or possibly 64, if he were to have any chance of making the top-60 on the Race to Dubai.

After a cold day with the putter in hand, Harrington – who also missed out on qualifying for the tour finale in 2011 – said of his plight: “I am trying hard to make it and I would love to be there. But bare in mind anyone who just scrambles in gets an early tee time the first day and it is nearly impossible to come out of the early tee times. Every hole plays about 30 yards longer than in the afternoon. It’s a tough task to win from the early tee times next week.”

Harrington endured a frustrating front nine that failed to yield a single birdie but improved on the run for home with four in six holes.

How he could have done with Shane Lowry’s touch on the greens. The Offalyman, having endured his own nightmare on the greens in Friday’s second round, managed to bend his broken putter back to its original state – with some help from Harrington – and responded with eight birdies in a 65 for a four under par 212.

Lowry’s philosophy after Friday’s setback, when he discovered his putter was broken just minutes before his round and had to borrow one from the pro shop, was to “go out and try and shoot two decent scores and get ready for next week (in Dubai).”

His 65 in the third round was a 10 stroke improvement on his second round, all of it attributed to a feeling on the greens.

Damien McGrane remained on one under with a level par round of 72.

Frenchman Victor Dubuisson outgunned some of the biggest names in the sport in firing a third round 63 for 195, 21-under-par, to establish a five-stroke lead over Ian Poulter with the quartet of Tiger Woods, Henrik Stenson, Alejandro Canizares and Raphael Jacquelin two shots behind the leader.

Dubuisson, seeking a first win on tour, started with four straight birdies, reached the turn in 30 and then added a hat-trick of birdies from the 13th to take a firm grip on the championship.