WATCH: Rory McIlroy birdies boost puts him in with ‘some big guys coming up’ for Dubai final day
Rory McIlroy will start the closing round of his opening 2026 tournament three shots off the Dubai Invitational top spot – but with leader Nacho Elvira aware “some big guys coming up”.
Four birdies helped the grand slam great get back on track with a third-round 68 in response to water woes behind Friday’s 74, having kicked off as overnight leader thanks to 66 on Thursday.
Birdies arrived over the first, 10th, 13th and 16th holes in Dubai, with a bogey on the fourth his only blemish across Saturday’s play to put McIlroy on five under overall.
Elvira holds the upper hand on the field thanks to a 68 to sit eight under – followed by Dylan Frittelli, Marcus Armitage and Shane Lowry each on six under.
McIlroy will tee off at 7.50am (Sunday, UK time) for the final round alongside Thorbjorn Olesen, the latter one shot behind the Northern Ireland hero.
Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin is six over and tied 42 after a third-round 72 and will tee off Sunday at 4.30am (UK time).
Looking down from a position at the top of the leaderboard, Elvira said of his two-shot lead and the quality chasing pack: “Some big guys coming up.
"What can I say? They are great players.
"I played with Shane (Lowry) today...he's obviously a level above, like we all know.
"But I'm going to try to stick to my game and see where that puts me.
"If that puts me winning, great...if that puts me two behind, then let it be.”
Elvira was asked to reflect on his promising position after 13 years on tour and over 300 tournaments and if the challenge was more physical or mental heading into the final day.
“I really don't know to be honest...but if I have to say, I think it's more mental,” he said. “I've been here long enough to not be too nervous tomorrow, let's put it that way.
"I think I'm going to try to enjoy and probably learn from all the experiences that I have in the past and see where that puts me...I'm happy where I'm at.
“I think if I started on Tuesday, if you would tell me I would have a two-shot lead, I wouldn't believe you because my shot was all over the place.
"So I'm extremely happy.”
Lowry described his mindset towards a title challenge as “it's the reason I get up in the morning...try my best, working as hard as I can and, yeah, hopefully it will come soon”.