DUBAI: Rory McIlroy conjured up a magical third round 63 to reignite his quest for a fourth Dubai Desert Classic title on Saturday. After rounds of 71 and 70 the Northern Irishman appeared to be out of the running, going into the weekend trailing overnight leader Cameron Young by 10 shots. McIlroy knew he needed to produce something special to defend his title and he did just that with his brilliant bogey-free nine-under par effort to leave him in a share of second.

The world number two executed a grandstand finish, making an eagle putt from the fringe from nearly 45 feet. At almost the same time, Young made a double bogey on the par-3 seventh hole after hitting his tee shot into the water. That tied the two players on top at 12-under par. American Young would later make three birdies on the back nine to finish on one-under par 71 and lead by two shots going into the final round.

McIlroy moved to 12-under par with the best round of the week so far, where he was joined by Poland’s Adrian Meronk (70). Crowd favorite McIlroy, who secured his first professional win in Dubai in 2009 and played for the first time in the tournament as an amateur in 2006, matched his lowest round in the tournament in 13 appearances (first round in 2014).

“Because of the way the course is playing, I thought to myself, if I could shoot two rounds of 67s over the weekend, I would have a pretty good chance to at least contend,” said the man of the day. “I’ve sort of nearly made up those 10 shots up in one day. So, I’m in a much better position than I thought I would be,” said McIlroy, who could become the most successful player in the 35-year history of the Dubai Desert Classic with his fourth title win on Sunday.

“And obviously, that was a massive bonus at the last with the eagle. But yeah, I sort of expected if I played well today to still be four or five behind going into tomorrow, I’d have some chance. Looks like I’ll be a little closer than that.” McIlroy said he knew he needed to play well on the tougher front nine of the Majlis course, and he did that with five birdies, three of them coming in succession from the seventh onwards.

‘I’m exhausted’

On the back nine, he took care of the three par-5s, making birdies on the 10th and 13th, before the eagle on 18th. Young, who is yet to win on the top-tier tours but has 13 top-10s in the past two seasons, said he had expected McIlroy to do something outrageous. “I saw it (McIlroy moving to top of the leaderboard). I kind of assumed. Someone like him, I feel like you expect him to do that. Figured he wasn’t going to be 30th for long,” said Young, who followed up the double bogey on the seventh hole with a bogey on the eighth.

Meronk, who hit a shank on the fifth hole when his second shot went more than a 100 yards off target from where he made a bogey, was happy with his 70. “I’m exhausted to be honest. The course wasn’t playing easy today. The greens were firmer and faster. Tough pin positions. But overall, good position going into Sunday, so I’m happy for that,” said the Dubai resident, winner of three DP World Tour titles in 2023. China’s Li Haotong (69) and Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard (70) were tied fourth at nine-under par, while LIV Golf star Joaquin Niemann (67) improved to solo sixth position at eight-under. — AFP