Rickie Fowler birdied three of the remaining seven holes in his third round on Sunday morning to break free of a congested leading group and take a two-shot lead at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.

The American was on 13-under par at Abu Dhabi Golf Club going into the final round and is in good shape for his fourth victory in nine months.

Fowler said: “Nice to move up and get myself in a good position to win this afternoon. Still got a lot of work to do, but the game feels good and [I am] excited for the challenge ahead.

“I definitely feel a lot more comfortable this year on the golf course than last year. I’m going to have to earn this win, because there’s a lot of guys at the top of the leaderboard right now and it won’t be easy.”

Sixty of the 73 players to make the cut finished their third rounds on Sunday after morning fog disrupted the playing schedule on Friday and Saturday. Joost Luiten eagled No. 18 to move into second place on 11 under, one shot ahead of Rory McIlroy (70), Thomas Pieters (64), Matthew Baldwin (67), Branden Grace (66) and Byeong-Hun An (69).

McIlroy was with Fowler in a five-way tie for the lead on 10 under when play was suspended for darkness on Saturday.

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