DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Rory McIlroy emerged from a wild afternoon at the DP World Tour Championship with three birdies over his last five holes Saturday for a 4-under 68, giving him a share of the lead with Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen of Denmark as he closes in on a fourth straight Race to Dubai title.
The final hour at the Jumeirah Golf Estates featured an eight-way tie for the lead at one point. Nicolai Hojgaard started the third round with the lead and his twin brother became one of the leaders by the afternoon.
When the third round ended, McIlroy and Neergaard-Peterson (68) were at 13-under 203, one shot clear of Tyrrell Hatton and five other players.
Hatton is the only player with a mathematical chance of catching McIlroy in the Race to Dubai, though it would require a collapse by the Masters champion on the Earth course where McIlroy is defending champion and has three titles.
“It would be an amazing way to end the season,” McIlroy said, who is coming off a tie for third in Abu Dhabi last week to strengthen his position at the top. “I played well when I needed to last week, especially at the weekend. I put myself in position to try to get another win here. So yeah, really pleased.”
Marco Penge of England, who is No. 2 in the Race to Dubai, opened with a 74 and has been largely out of the picture since then. He shot 68 on Saturday but remains nine behind. Hatton becomes the next challenger, and his 67 left him in the chasing pack.
Hatton would have to win and have McIlroy finish outside the top eight, though with so many players bunched at the top, it's not unreasonable for that to happen.
“Today's round has given me a chance,” Hatton said.
Recommended for you
Plenty is at stake for Neergaard-Petersen, too. He kept a clean card after a bogey at the start for a 68, giving him a spot in the final group of the season finale and his first time playing with McIlroy. A strong finish could be enough for the Dane to earn one of the leading 10 spots for tour players to earn a PGA Tour card for 2026.
“I've had a big goal this year to see if I could win out here, and obviously if I were to do it tomorrow and get it over the line , that would be incredible,” he said.
The group one shot behind includes Rasmus Hojgaard (65), Matt Fitzpatrick (66), Tommy Fleetwood (68), Laurie Canter (68) and Angel Ayora of Spain, who bogeyed the last for a 67.
Nicolai Hojgaard slipped to a 73 but still was only two shots behind along with Justin Rose (70) and Ludvig Aberg (67).
It sets up for a wide-open finish to the European Tour season, with McIlroy going for a seventh title as Europe's No. 1, one short of the record held by Colin Montgomerie. It already has been a banner year for McIlroy, who completed the career Grand Slam at Augusta National, won The Players Championship and Pebble Beach, won the Irish Open and led Europe to victory in the Ryder Cup.
“I certainly could have coasted into these couple of weeks and enjoyed myself,” McIlroy said. “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. As I said, I’ve put myself in a great position to go and do that tomorrow.”
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.