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.
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
Former Formosa Dreamers player Ilkan Karaman was killed in a traffic accident in Datca, Turkey, Turkish media reported yesterday. He was 34. The former Turkish national team player was reportedly hit by a car, the driver of which was allegedly drunk, while he was standing on a sidewalk, Turkish newspaper Sozcu reported. Karaman and his friends were on their way to the beach town of Dalaman to go scuba diving when they stopped at a gas station to buy gasoline, it reported. Karaman was hit by the car while waiting on a sidewalk as his friends were buying gasoline, it
ANKLE PROBLEM: Taiwan’s Ye Hong-wei and Lee Chia-hsin had a disappointing end to their tournament after an injury forced them out of their mixed doubles semi-final Taiwanese badminton ace Tai Tzu-ying on Friday was knocked out in the women’s singles quarter-finals at her last Taipei Open. The world No. 3 lost 21-18, 16-21, 22-24 to Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia in a match that stretched 68 minutes at the Taipei Arena. Despite her higher ranking, Tai said she was not too sad about the loss, given her struggle with a lingering knee injury. “Wins and losses are just part of the game. Actually, I think I’m going to lose every single match considering my condition now,” said the five-time champion of the Super 300 event, who has announced plans
RSS