Rosh Fisher fired a seven-under 65 in windy conditions to share the lead with Thomas Pieters after the third round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship on Saturday.

Fisher offset a lone bogey with eight birdies to reach the clubhouse at 17 under 199.

“It was another good day,” said Fisher. “Obviously great fun getting out with Thomas, third day in a row, a lot of fun, a lot of banter. Just trying to hang on, felt like I played solid. Conditions got very windy and 17 and 18 were playing very tough.”

Pieters followed his second round 65 with a 67, starting strongly with four birdies on the front nine.

“I think I played pretty good today. I missed a lot of putts. Made a couple birdies early, which settled me down,” he said.

“The back nine, I played very good. But yeah, I couldn’t really make a putt. Hit one really close on 16 and 17, 18, pretty disappointing. I didn’t hit many good shots there but it’s still nice to make a par on the last after the mess I made.”

Rory McIlroy moved into second place after carding a 65 to finish on 16 under, while defending champion Tommy Fleetwood and Matthew Fitzpatrick were in a tie for third place on 15 under.

Fitzpatrick produced the lowest round of the day, carding 10 birdies and one bogey in his superb 63.