McIlroy eyes fourth Dubai Desert Classic title after stunning third round 63
Spectators cheer on Rory McIlroy during the final round of the PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club on Sunday, May 21, 2023 in Rochester, New York. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/PGA of America)
Rory McIlroy has a record fourth Hero Dubai Desert Classic win in his sights after he sensationally eagled the last to card a scintillating nine-under 63 and grab the early clubhouse lead.
But he now has a 17th DP World Tour win firmly in his crosshairs after a stunning third-round performance at the Majlis Course, where he is the defending champion.
"I was walking up with putter in my hand, and then as I got closer to the ball, I saw that there was a lot of fringe to go through and I said to Harry, I sort of want to chip it but the lie wasn't great, and I could just see the club bouncing and said I'd just ride my luck with the putter," McIlroy said of his closing eagle.
"It came out perfectly, and as soon as it got on the green, it actually wasn't as fast as I thought it was going to be, and it was tracking perfectly, and obviously a huge bonus for something like that to go in.
"But for the rest of the day, I played some very, very good golf, definitely better than I played the last couple of days. Nice to get myself right back in the tournament.
Tied for 24th overnight, the world number two got off the perfect start with a birdie at the first before picking up another shot at the par-five third.
He'd struggled on the tougher front nine over the first two days, playing the demanding stretch from the sixth to the ninth in four-over.
But he bucked that trend earlier today by making three birdies in a row at the seventh, eighth and ninth to turn in five-under 30 before picking up another shot at the 10th.
Now six under for the day, McIlroy birdied the par-five 13th to get to within four shots of Young on 10-under.
But he walked off the course in the solo lead as the American followed an opening birdie with a bogey at the seventh and a double-bogey at the eighth.
After failing to birdie the driveable 17th, McIlroy hit a big drive down the 18th and then holed an unlikely 45-footer from the back fringe for an eagle three to set the target at 12-under, four ahead of playing partner Joaquin Niemann of Chile, who shot 67.
"I just thought if I could play the front nine better — I played the front nine a little scrappily the last couple of days — so I thought if I got off to a good start and I was a couple under through three," McIlroy added.
"And then I thought if I could pick one or two more up over that sort of tough stretch from your five through nine, I ended up picking three up at seven, eight and nine, which was fantastic.
"I think for me, the key to this golf course is always the front nine because it is a tougher nine, and if you can play that nine well, you know you give yourself a ton of momentum going into the more scoreable back nine."
McIlroy has won five Race to Dubais and four majors, but he insists that never losing his love of the game is the key to his success.
"I think the fact that I turn up every day still trying to get better," he said of his proudest achievement. "I think the consistency that I've shown throughout my career, I've never lost the hunger to go out and play better, but I've also never lost the joy of the game, which I think is really important.
"It's never felt like a job to me in the day that does feel like a job is the day I need to give up."
If he wins on Sunday he will become the first man to win the title four times and he reckons he has a great chance.
"Anything within five, probably," he said of the kind of gap he feels he can bridge. "I don't think I'm going to be five behind unless someone does something very special on the back nine but you know anything within three, four, five shots so I think I'll still have a chance to win here, which would be amazing.
"It would be awesome. I've had so much success in Dubai, whether at this tournament or over Jumeirah Golf Estates and Race to Dubai and it's been a really good place to me, and I love coming back here.
"I really enjoy my time here and yeah, it'd be amazing if I was able to get another one.”
Tom McKibbin shot a two-under 70 to share 19th in the clubhouse on four-under.
