McIlroy rallies with 68 to stay in Dubai Invitational chase

Rory McIlroy revived his Dubai Invitational hopes connected Saturday with a 3-under 68, giving himself an extracurricular accidental heading into the last circular astatine Dubai Creek Resort.

He volition commencement Sunday 3 shots down person Nacho Elvira, who besides posted a 68. Elvira is 2 shots wide of the field, with Ireland’s Shane Lowry, England’s Marcus Armitage and South Africa’s Dylan Frittelli tied for second.

McIlroy steadies himself aft a unsmooth Friday

McIlroy’s determination up the committee came a time aft an underwhelming 3-over 74 that included 5 bogeys. He began his 3rd circular with a birdie, nevertheless helium stumbled with a bogey 6 astatine the par-5 fourth. He responded with 3 birdies connected the backmost 9 to enactment successful the hunt.

McIlroy said his beardown past successful play openers comes down to mentation and a reset mindset. “I would accidental the cardinal to that is the accidental to enactment connected immoderate things erstwhile you person a small spot of clip disconnected implicit the Christmas play and past the enthusiasm to commencement a caller twelvemonth and commencement fresh,” helium said. “I person ever loved coming retired present to the Middle East and to Dubai and playing successful these tournaments, adjacent arsenic an amateur. I person been coming present for implicit 20 years, and it's a spot I'm comfy in.”

Elvira leads arsenic challengers clump up

Lowry, chasing his archetypal DP World Tour rubric since the 2022 BMW PGA Championship, shared the pb aboriginal and slipped with bogeys astatine the 3rd and sixth. He recovered with 3 birdies implicit the past 12 holes for a 1-under 70.

Armitage dropped a changeable astatine the seventh, nevertheless 4 back-nine birdies kept him wrong two. Frittelli delivered 5 birdies successful a bogey-free circular to articulation the chase.

Elvira, with 4 birdies and 1 bogey, holds the edge. His anterior European circuit wins came astatine the Cazoo Open successful 2021 and the Soudal Open successful 2024.

Further back, Matt Wallace changeable 69 to beryllium 5 behind. Tommy Fleetwood is 8 backmost contempt a third-round 66 aft a Friday 78 derailed his rubric defense. “Golf is hard, and each present and again it is precise humbling towards you and yesterday was 1 of those days,” Fleetwood said. “I scored the implicit worst I could, and everything I could bash incorrect I did bash wrong. That was truly disappointing. So I'm conscionable blessed to person played good today.”