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

Join the Miguel Delaney Inside Football Join the Miguel Delaney Inside newsletter to get exclusive access and unparalleled insight. Football NewsletterJoin the Miguel Delaney inside Football newsletterRory 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 is in the running for the Race to Dubai, but he will need to win Sunday and hope McIlroy drops out of the top 8. “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, along with Tommy Fleetwood and Matt Fitzpatrick, is in a tie for third place. Rasmus Hojgaard, who had been the overnight leader, is now two strokes behind after a poor 73.
2025-11-15 13:18:20