GOLF – CALUM Hill took a two-shot lead yesterday into today’s final round of the 2026 Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship after carding a level-par 72 on a testing day at Royal Golf Club.
The Scot, who matched the course record with an 11-under 61 on Friday, saw his overnight four-shot advantage cut in half as playing partner Freddy Schott applied the pressure with a two-under 70.
Hill struggled early, going two-over through the front nine, but rallied with two birdies on the back nine to get back to level par for the day and 16-under for the tournament.
“I actually felt like I played quite nicely, I just had a few errors in there and misjudged a couple of putts early on that put me behind a little bit,” said Hill.
“I managed to come back a little bit on the back nine and put myself in a good position for tomorrow. If at the start of the week you said I’d have a couple of shots going into Sunday, I’d be delighted.
“It was just nice to get back to where I started for the day. I know the lead slightly diminished, but I didn’t want to beat myself and I feel like now I’ve got back to par – it’s not the end of the world.”
Hill expressed his delight with heading into yesterday’s action in number one place. “Today was a great experience,” he said. “It’s been a while since I’ve been at the top of a leaderboard and leading going into the weekend.
“Early on, I could feel the adrenaline going through my body. My arms, forearms, and hands were a little – I don’t know how to explain it – like springy, so a couple of my putts early on were a little firm or misjudged. I settled in after that sixth hole, felt a little bit better.
“The nice thing I like about today is that no matter how my body felt, my striking was still there. I still controlled the golf ball really well and hit it where I wanted to. I just need to work on the putting a little bit. However, in saying that, that is my greatest asset in my game, so I’m not too worried about it.”
Regarding today’s final round, Hill said: “I’m excited for it. I get to play with Freddy again. I’m going into Sunday with a two-shot lead – I’m in control of what happens. If I play half decent, then I give myself a good chance and that’s all you can ask for.”
Schott, chasing a maiden DP World Tour victory, fired four birdies on the front nine to briefly draw level with Hill. A pair of bogeys at the 12th and 13th levelled matters once more and Hill birdied the next two to take advantage. Schott also birdied the 14th but the German’s closing bogey saw Hill’s lead swell back to two.
“I’m a little bit disappointed to three-putt on the last, but it was a good day today,” said the German. “We will just keep doing what we’re doing, and we should be all right tomorrow.
“To be honest, I didn’t think about it a lot – being four shots behind at the start of the day. I just thought it might be a two-day thing – I might catch him in two days. Obviously, he was struggling a bit on the first few holes and I played really good, so all of a sudden, we were there together.
“I’m still following the plan of trying to catch him tomorrow, so I’m looking forward to that.”
Patrick Reed and Sweden’s Mikael Lindberg both fired six-under 66s to charge into contention. Reed moved to 12-under-par – tied for third alongside Scotland’s Grant Forrest, who played a 67 yesterday, and fellow-former Masters champion Sergio Garcia, who carded a 68, while Lindberg sits one shot further back at 11-under.
Reed, who claimed his first Rolex Series victory at last weekend’s Hero Dubai Desert Classic in the UAE, made four birdies on the front nine before making a further gain on 10 and adding an eagle on 13, with just one blemish on the 16th to move within four shots of the lead.
“It was a solid start to the weekend – I got on a nice little run out there, I was hitting the ball really solid and just out in front of me, and because of that I was able to take advantage of the greens,” said Reed.
“I’ve obviously taken some of that confidence from last week into this week, but also at the same time, I feel like the work that we’ve done on the full swing stuff is really paying off – I’m really comfortable and confident with how I’m swinging.
“Everyone loves the lead, obviously. You always love the lead going into Sunday, but at the same time, I’ve won golf tournaments leading, I’ve won golf tournaments chasing.
“For me, as long as we’re close enough to the lead to be able to have a chance tomorrow, that’s all I could really do today. It just depends – are you going to be the hunted or the hunter? It looks like I’m going to be the hunter tomorrow.”
Garcia, making his first DP World Tour start of 2026, produced a classy round featuring five birdies to move into contention four shots off the lead.
“It was good,” he said. “Today I played better than yesterday. I felt like I hit the ball better.
“I got to a nice, solid start and then in the middle of the round, I started getting hot, which was nice.
“The last five holes, I felt like I played quite well and hit a lot of good putts. Unfortunately, they would all burn the edge or lip out or something like that. It was a good, solid day and I’m happy with it for sure.”
Lindberg is joined at 11-under by compatriot Jorge Campillo, England’s Ben Schmidt and Spain’s Nacho Elvira.
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