Tyrrell Hatton surged ahead at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai after a steady third round left Rory McIlroy four shots behind. Hatton carded a four-under-par 68 on Saturday to reach nine under for the tournament, holding a narrow lead over France’s Victor Perez, who sits one shot back at eight under after a 67.
McIlroy began the day tied for the lead with Hatton but slipped with a 72 at the Earth Course. The Northern Irishman’s round featured an eagle three on the par-five seventh, giving him the outright lead briefly, but bogeys on the eighth, ninth, and tenth holes saw him fall behind. He managed a birdie on 14 and another on the final hole, the par-five 18th, where he narrowly missed a six-foot eagle putt. Still, his score of six under leaves him in a group of four players tied for fourth place, alongside Spain’s Eugenio Chacarra, Australia’s Adam Scott, and Italy’s Francesco Laporta.
Chacarra holds the Race to Dubai lead entering the final round, but he is four shots off Hatton after a 68 that included nine birdies, three bogeys, and a double bogey. The Spaniard’s mixed round keeps the season-long title race wide open as the tournament reaches its conclusion.
Hatton’s narrow lead was not without drama. He found water off the tee on the last hole and then landed in a greenside bunker with his approach shot, but he managed to scramble a par. “It would mean a lot to go on and win tomorrow,” Hatton said. “There is a lot that can change. The course is playing difficult this week and there’s a lot of fantastic players just behind. It is going to be a tough day.”
Sweden’s Mikael Lindberg is third on six under, playing alongside 2013 Masters winner Adam Scott, who carded a 67. Lindberg’s consistency has kept him in contention, but he remains three shots adrift of Hatton.
Jon Rahm, who entered the weekend with a chance to clinch the Race to Dubai title with a victory, faltered with a third consecutive 71. He is six shots off the lead heading into Sunday’s final round.
McIlroy’s hopes of winning an eighth Race to Dubai title, which would tie Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie’s record, are still alive but complicated. He trails Chacarra by more than 500 points going into the final day and must finish ahead of the Spaniard and place in the top four to secure the season-long crown.
McIlroy will tee off alongside Englishman Dan Bradbury, who impressed with a 66 to climb to four under. Bradbury’s form has been a surprise this week as he moves closer to the leaders.
Live text updates from the DP World Tour Championship’s final round will be available on the BBC Sport website and app on Sunday.
According to BBC Sports.
