KAEC, Jeddah — Dustin Johnson and Haotong Li will go head-to-head in a final round showdown at the Saudi International powered by SBIA, after an historic eagle surge by Li saw the two-time European Tour winner join the American at the top of the leaderboard late on day three.

Playing in Saturday’s penultimate pairing ahead of Johnson, China’s Li threw down the gauntlet early with a chip-in for eagle on the first hole at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC). A double bogey on the par 4 sixth hole threatened to derail Li’s momentum, but he immediately recovered with a birdie on the par 4 seventh and another majestic chip-in for eagle on hole 10.

A third eagle of the day on hole 17 saw Li become the first player to score a hat trick of eagles on par 4s in the same round of a European Tour event since 1999. His fourth eagle of the day on hole 18 made him the first player to score a quartet of eagles in a European Tour round since Mark Pilkington at the 2007 Singapore Masters.

“I think I was very, very lucky today,” said Li. “The last couple of shots were really solid, but except that, honestly, my play wasn't good. I want to play my best and enjoy myself in the final round,” said Li, who carded a 62 to finish 16 under par.

Johnson had led the first-ever European Tour event held in Saudi Arabia throughout the third round following another assured display of power and finesse. However, Li’s fourth and final eagle saw him elevated to co-leader alongside Johnson, who was later forced to scramble for par on 18 after his tee shot found water.

“Four eagles in a golf tournament is pretty good, but four in one round, I’d take that any day,” said Johnson. “If I want to get it done tomorrow, I'm going to have to play really good golf. Haotong is a good player and he's been playing well. I’ll just go out, play my game and not worry about what he's doing. I'm looking forward to it.”

With Saturday’s early morning pairs benefitting from calmer conditions, a number of challengers posted solid scores to increase the pressure on overnight leader Johnson ahead of his 12.45 p.m. start. The contenders were led by Englishman Tom Lewis, who carded a scintillating bogey-free round of 62 to climb to 11 under par.

“I was really pleased, I played very well. I love having rounds with no dropped shots. I made a lot of good putts out there. Tomorrow is a big day and I'm excited about going out there,” said Lewis.

At the tail-end of the field, World No.2 Brooks Koepka failed to take advantage of the calm morning conditions and carded a third-round score of 74. The Floridian sits 19 shots behind Johnson and Li going into the final day’s play.

Garcia disqualified

Spain's Sergio Garcia was disqualified from the inaugural Saudi International for misconduct.

The world No. 27, the Masters champion in 2017, shot a round of one-over par 71, but is believed to have damaged a couple of greens at the Royal Greens Golf Club during that effort after slamming his putter in frustration.

Garcia thus became the first player on the European Tour to be disqualified under Rule 1.2a, which deals with conduct expected from players. The rule declares that "players are expected to play in the spirit of the game by acting with integrity, showing consideration to others and taking good care of the course."

Garcia apologized for his behavior and said in a statement released by the Tour: "I respect the decision of my disqualification.

"In frustration, I damaged a couple of greens, for which I apologize, and I have informed my fellow players it will never happen again." — S