Rory McIlroy was in a class of his own on Saturday, seizing a four-shot lead with a six-under-par 66 after the third round of the Dubai Desert Classic.
The world No. 1 reeled off five birdies in the opening eight holes before picking up his sixth shot of a faultless round at the 17th to finish with a 20-under tally of 196.
Denmark’s Morten Orum Madsen (66), chasing his second European Tour win, was in second place on 200, two ahead of Britain’s Lee Westwood (69).
“The front nine was very good as I didn’t put a foot wrong and when I missed a short putt on 10, it seemed like that momentum I had just sort of went away and I had to scramble a little bit for pars coming in,” McIlroy told reporters. “It was nice then to make a birdie on 17 ... and to go out there today with no bogeys for a second day in a row.”
McIlroy heads to Dublin today for a High Court date to settle a long-running dispute with his former management company, but that seemed the furthest thing from his mind.
“I felt like today, for the first time this week, I struggled a little bit, but felt like I kept it together nicely and didn’t drop any shots on the way in,” the four-time major champion said. “We know in this game you can take nothing for granted. I’ve been in this position many times before so I know the pitfalls that are waiting out there.”
“It’s just a matter of sticking to the same game plan, being aggressive, making committed swings and giving myself as many chances for birdies as I can,” he said.
Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher, chasing his third straight Desert Classic victory, was back on 203 after a 70.
Also on 13-under were English pair Andy Sullivan and Danny Willett, and Bernd Wiesberger of Austria.
Phoenix Open
Scotsman Martin Laird shot a three-under-par 68 to hold off some charging youngsters on Saturday and carry a three-stroke lead into the final round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
Laird sank a pair of 10-foot, par-saving putts at the 16th and 18th holes to finish 54 holes in 13-under 200 at TPC Scottsdale, Arizona.
Tied for second at 203 were Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, who birdied the last four holes in a bogey-free 63, American Brooks Koepka, who fired six birdies for 30 on the back nine in his 64, and former Masters champion Zach Johnson, who shot a 67.
Three players were tied at nine-under, including amateur Jon Rahm of Spain and Arizona State University. Playing on a sponsor’s exemption, Rahm shot a 66 for a 204 total that he shared with Ryan Palmer (68) and Justin Thomas (69).
Another stroke back was a large group that included Italy’s Francesco Molinari, who had the stadium crowd of more than 15,000 surrounding the par-three 16th in a frenzy with a hole-in-one.
Molinari’s ace helped him to a seven-under 64 and triggered a wild celebration in which fans threw their beer cans to virtually cover the slopes leading up to the green.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but