McGinley saves best till last

Paul McGinley, seeking his first win since he holed the winning putt in the Ryder Cup two years ago, chipped in at the last to regain a share of the lead with a round to go in the Dubai Desert Classic.

Mark O’Meara, whose last official tour victory was the 1998 Open at Birkdale, looked set to top the leaderboard on his own after a hat-trick of birdies late in the third round.

But after McGinley’s dramatic shot in the gathering gloom he missed from 12 feet and so the pair, who have played together since the first day, are tied on the 14 under par mark of 202.

Londoner Brian Davis, a winner in Australia last month, lies third, but is three strokes back and then there is a two-shot gap to Welshman Bradley Dredge, Surrey’s Paul Casey and Yorkshireman Simon Dyson.

As for Tiger Woods and Ernie Els they are six and eight shots back respectively, Els having two bogey sixes in the last six holes.

Collated totals after the third round of the second round of the Dubai Desert Classic at the Emirates Club, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

(Gbr and Irl unless stated, par 72):

202 Paul McGinley 68 65 69, Mark O’Meara (USA) 70 64 68

205 Brian Davis 70 66 69

207 Simon Dyson 68 69 70, Paul Casey 69 68 70, Bradley Dredge 64 71 72

208 Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 70 70 68, Tiger Woods (USA) 70 69 69, David Howell 67 71 70, Greg Owen 71 65 72

209 Lee Westwood 70 71 68, Jean Van de Velde (Fra) 73 68 68, Peter Lawrie 69 69 71, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 69 67 73

210 Damien McGrane 72 70 68, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 69 71 70, Marcel Siem (Ger) 70 70 70, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 69 70 71, Colin Montgomerie 70 69 71, Andrew Marshall 72 71 67, Ernie Els (Rsa) 70 68 72

211 Steve Webster 70 73 68, Gregory Havret (Fra) 70 71 70, Padraig Harrington 69 72 70, Richard Green (Aus) 68 71 72

212 Anders Hansen (Den) 72 70 70, Gary Orr 69 75 68

213 John Bickerton 71 71 71, Martin Maritz (Rsa) 70 72 71, Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 72 71 70, Ian Poulter 73 70 70, Zhang Lian-wei (Chn) 71 70 72, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 68 72 73, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 70 73 70, Martin Lemesurier 70 73 70, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 72 72 69, Brett Rumford (Aus) 74 69 70, Michael Campbell (Nzl) 74 69 70

214 Raymond Russell 70 73 71, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 70 71 73, Simon Khan 69 71 74, Kenneth Ferrie 70 70 74, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 72 71 71, Soren Hansen (Den) 69 75 70m, Gary Murphy 71 67 76, Mark Foster 74 70 70, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 70 74 70

215 Nick Faldo 73 69 73, Christian Cevaer (Fra) 70 73 72, Stuart Little 74 69 72, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 74 69 72, James Kingston (Rsa) 73 70 72, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 71 72 72, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 72 72 71, Phillip Price 71 72 72

216 Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 72 70 74, Stephen Scahill (Nzl) 69 73 74, Stephen Gallacher 72 71 73, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 71 70 75, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 73 70 73, Peter Hanson (Swe) 71 73 72

217 Michael Jonzon (Swe) 74 70 73, Andrew Coltart 72 72 73, Gary Evans 71 73 73, Paul Broadhurst 70 74 73

218 Peter Baker 69 73 76, Mark Roe 71 72 75, Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha) 74 70 74

219 Alastair Forsyth 70 73 76

220 Miles Tunnicliff 71 73 76

222 Ben Banks 73 70 79