Rory McIlroy on course for ‘amazing’ end to season after late birdies in Dubai

Rory McIlroy is the joint leader of the DP World Championship after the third round in Dubai.

The Northern Irishman could yet cap a seventh Race to Dubai crown – putting him only one behind Colin Montgomerie – with another title after a strong finish on Saturday.

After birdieing the first, McIlroy endured frustration before picking up three shots over the final five holes with birdies on 14, 15 and 18.

That moved him to 13 under par, level with Dane Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, who also posted a four-under round, and one shot ahead of a group of six players, including Tyrrell Hatton.

McIlroy said on Sky Sports: “I got off to a good start, I hit two great shots into the first, two great shots into the second. I missed a two-and-a-half, three-footer on two, three-putted that, and I feel after that I sort of let that affect me a little bit, especially on the greens, for the next few holes.

“But I stayed really patient, gave myself plenty of opportunities, didn’t hole that much but I knew there was a few chances coming in and it was nice to take advantage of those. Overall, a bit of battling day, the conditions were tricky enough, but happy to shoot the score that I did.”

Hatton, who shot a second straight 67, is just about in contention for the Race to Dubai but he would need to win on Sunday and hope McIlroy tumbles out of the top eight.

McIlroy appears unlikely to lose too much sleep, saying: “I’m in a better position than him. I’m focused on myself. If I go out and play the golf that I know I’m capable of, especially around this golf course, I know that I’ll be OK.

“It would be an amazing way to end the season. I’ve put myself in position to try to get another win here. I certainly could have coasted into these couple of weeks and enjoyed myself but the Race to Dubai is important to me and it’s important to me to try to get a little bit closer to Monty.”

Hatton is one of four English players in the tie for third along with Tommy Fleetwood, Matt Fitzpatrick and Laurie Canter.

Rasmus Hojgaard shot a seven-under-par round of 65 to join them, overtaking his brother Nicolai, who was the overnight leader but is now two shots adrift following a disappointing 73.

Ryder Cup stars Justin Rose and Ludvig Aberg are also on 11 under on a stacked leaderboard.