Campbell was again a picture of consistency shooting his third round of a four-under par 68 to be tied in second place on 12-under par with England’s Simon Khan (64) and Sweden’s Alex Noren (66).
England’s Chris Wood matched Khan’s score and move three clear at 15-under par.
Michael Campbell delights young fans with autographs after his third straight round of 68 in the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters. (Photo – www.golfbytourmiss.com)
The 25-year, who finished third in the 2009 Open Championship, is looking to win a maiden European Tour title.
While Wood captured the 2012 Asian Tour’s Thailand Open he will be looking to make amends for letting slip victory a year earlier in the Iberdrola Open in Majorca. The Bristol golfer went into the final day leading by four but lost by three shots to Darren Clarke.
Campbell kick-started his round with two birdies, chipping to 10-feet at the first and then at the second, he played a greenside bunker shot to 15-feet and holed the birdie putt.
Birdies followed at the eighth, 10th and 13thhole and with Campbell’s only bogey at the par four, 15th.
“Once again, I was four-under par after 10 holes and just couldn’t putt on the last eight holes,” he said.
“So that’s been a little frustrating, but, hey, you know, it’s just one of those things where at this time last year, I was packing my bag and going home.”
Indeed, Campbell best finish in Doha was 27th in 2007 while he’s missed the cut in five of eight appearances in the Qatari capital.
And in 18 rounds on the desert-like course prior to this week Campbell had never broken 70.
Campbell has this week made a mockery of those stats but the former US Open champion is smart enough to know, that despite his much reported on-course hardships over the past few years, there is still a long way to go if he is to become the first New Zealander to lift the gleaming ‘Mother of Pearl’ trophy.
“My expectations are quite high and I want to do well tomorrow, and if I don’t, it’s no big deal, as I’ve got next week,” he said.
“All I can do is just control my own game, control my own destiny and see what happens.
“But for these last six months I have been walking around with a bigger smile on my face, so everything is going well so far.
“Though six months ago, I was desperate. I think I made two cuts in about two years, 18 or something, and now I have a chance of winning, and maybe that’s tomorrow.
“But after those fantastic rounds from Chris Wood and Simon Khan I am going to have to shoot low tomorrow to have a chance.”
And if Campbell is successful in winning the event he would move from his current 264th world ranking and to around 88th.
Campbell’s commences his final round at 12.06pm local Doha time and will play in the penultimate group partnering Noren.
