By ,
Published January 13, 2015
Antalya, Turkey (SportsNetwork.com) - Victor Dubuisson fired a 9-under 63 on Saturday to claim a 5-stroke lead at the end of three rounds of the Turkish Airlines Open.
Dubuisson, who is seeking his first career victory on the European Tour, finished 54 holes at the Montgomerie Maxx Royal at 21-under-par 195.
"I know I have a 5-shot lead, but with all these great players, tomorrow it will be a very tough day," stated Dubuisson.
Ian Poulter birdied his final hole to close out a 4-under 68 and move into sole possession of second place at 16-under 200, while Raphael Jacquelin set a new course record with a 10-under 62 to jump into a share of third at 15- under.
Jacquelin is joined by Race to Dubai leader Henrik Stenson (69), world No. 1 Tiger Woods (68) and Alejandro Canizares (66).
"I mean, Dubuisson seems to be playing really well; he's kind of pulled away," said Stenson. "But then it's a tight race for second, five, six guys tied on second position at the moment. Yeah, there is still some hope there for tomorrow. I'll try to finish strong tomorrow and carry on to next week."
Justin Walters (70) sits in seventh place at 14-under.
Stenson and Dubuisson opened the third round with birdies at the first and second to move to 14-under and grab a 1-stroke lead over fellow second-round co-leader Poulter, who also birdied the first.
Dubuisson stayed hot with gains at the third and fourth to grab the outright lead at 16-under.
Woods, meanwhile, followed birdies at the first and third by sticking his tee shot at the par-3 eighth within 10 feet and converting that birdie effort to move into a share of second place with Poulter at minus-14. Poulter had previously birdied the fourth to claim sole possession of second after Stenson's bogey at the seventh.
Poulter briefly lost his share of second with a 2-putt bogey at the seventh, but bounced right back by chipping in for birdie from just off the green at the eighth.
After Dubuisson rolled in a birdie from about 10 feet at the eighth to move three clear of the field at 17-under, Jacquelin closed his impressive round with four straight birdies from the 15th to jump into second place and grab the clubhouse lead at 15-under.
Jacquelin had earlier opened his day with four consecutive birdies from the first before dropping two of those shots with a double-bogey 5 at the fifth.
The Frenchman added another quartet of gains in the middle of his round at Nos. 8, 9, 10 and 11 to account for his 12 birdies on the day, which tied the record for the most birdies in a round.
Woods birdied the 11th from about 10 feet to join Jacquelin at 15-under before an errant drive at the 12th led to a bogey.
Woods, however, recovered with back-to-back birdies at the 13th and 14th, capped by a 40-foot putt, to pull within a shot of the lead at 16-under.
But he would get no closer and Dubuisson regained his cushion with birdies at the 13th, 14th and 15th, moving him to 20-under.
Stenson briefly claimed sole possession of second place with three straight gains from the 13th, but he could not hang on and closed with a bogey at the last to finish at 15-under.
Woods then continued his up-and-down back nine with consecutive bogeys at the 15th and 16th to drop to 14-under. He got one of those strokes back with a birdie at the 18th.
Dubuisson followed in the final group of the day and kicked in a short birdie at the last to finish at 21-under.
"I try not to think about it because if I think about it, I will put too much pressure on myself," Dubuisson said about being in position for his first tour win. "But I know tomorrow Tiger and Henrik, they will shoot very low score, so I have to keep the same strategy."
NOTES: Dubuisson's mark of 21-under ties the lowest 54-hole score of the season, matching Charl Schwartzel's score at the Alfred Dunhill Championship and Stephen Gallacher in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic ... Jacquelin joined Fred Couples, Ernie Els, Russell Claydon, Darren Clarke and Jeppe Huldahl as the only players to record 12 birdies in a round ... This is the first time the European Tour has played in Turkey ... Poulter currently sits 542,524 euros behind Stenson in the Race to Dubai.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/dubuisson-moves-5-clear-in-turkey