Els shines in desert again

World number five Ernie Els remained on course for an unprecedented fourth Dubai Desert Classic this morning as the South African maintained his one-stroke overnight advantage.

Compatriot Louis Oosthuizen stormed up the final round leaderboard to move into second place with three holes remaining after picking up eight strokes over his opening 14 holes.

Oosthuizen made his move after beginning the back nine with an eagle at the 10th, taking on the 549-yard par five in two and holing the 10-foot eagle putt.

The 26-year-old, who has been a member of Els’ Foundation in South Africa since 1999, dropped a shot at the 15th to slip back as Els simultaneously birdied the ninth.

That took him to the turn at 13 under, two under for the day.

Defending champion Henrik Stenson, who began the final round in second place behind Els, only managed to pick up one stroke over his opening nine holes to slip a further shot adrift of his playing partner.

Tiger Woods and Abu Dhabi champion Martin Kaymer, through 10, sat a further shot adrift, with Ireland’s Graeme McDowell at nine under through nine.

Woods was seeking a seventh victory in eight outings and showed little signs of his disappointment following his third round 73 and made an ideal start to his round.

He expertly played his approach shot from the right side of the first fairway to stop dead a foot from a tough Sunday pin and tapped home for an opening birdie.

Back-to-back birdies followed at three and four, but a dropped shot two holes later halted his assault on the summit.

He had a chance to recover a hole later but left a birdie putt inches short before two-putting the ninth to slip four shots off the pace.

A birdie at the 10th quickly followed before a chip in three from the fringes of the 467-yard 12th further boosted his hopes of a fightback.