Tyrrell Hatton reflected on a "pretty amazing start" after making two eagles and two birdies in his first four holes on day three of the 2025 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
The Englishman began the day eight shots off the lead but soon cut the gap as he covered the first four holes in six under par to make a huge move.
His putter was not required as he holed out for an eagle on the first before backing that up with a tap-in eagle on the second.
Hatton kept the momentum going with birdies from around ten feet at the third and fourth, while a 15-footer at the seventh took him to within one shot of the lead before the final group had even teed off.
The Ryder Cup star made further gains from nine feet at the 13th and 16th before closing his round with a bogey to head into the final round on 14 under par.
He said: "I got off to a pretty amazing start, which was really nice after yesterday's finish.
"I was delighted with that.
"I struggled a little bit through the middle in terms of not holing putts to keep momentum going. And then yeah, finally made a putt on the 13th. And a nice one on the 16th.
"I missed a good chance on the 17th, which would be nice to get to ten under (for the day) standing on the 18th.
"Then, yeah, my least favourite hole in the Middle East, which has got a close rival to next week's finishing hole."
Hatton was disappointed with the way he finished his second round on Friday, having made two double bogeys on the back nine.
And after a conversation with his father following round two, Hatton was pleased with what he saw on Saturday.
He added: "(After yesterday's round) I spoke with my dad. He thought the backswing looked a little bit steep.
"I didn't necessarily try to make it flatter. I just tried to focus on where my weight was at the top of my backswing, just trying to get it all synced. I do sometimes get quite high on my toes. I was just trying to feel my feet.
"In terms of shot-shaping, generally what I saw today was a lot better, which was nice. So I'll take sort of the positives from that, and hopefully we can go out there tomorrow and have another good day."
