McIlroy in strong positionpublished at 08:15 GMT
Rory McIlroy holed three birdies in the final five holes on Saturday to move into the joint lead.
The Northern Irishman carded a four-under-par 68 in the United Arab Emirates, during a round that included five birdies and a bogey as he went to 13 under, along with Denmark’s Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen.
England’s Laurie Canter (68), Matt Fitzpatrick (66), Tommy Fleetwood (68) and Tyrrell Hatton (67) started on 12 under, along with Spain’s Angel Ayora (67) and Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard (65).
McIlroy has a 767-point lead at the top of the season-long rankings as he goes for his fourth consecutive Race to Dubai crown.
Hatton is the only player who can stop McIlroy from winning the season-long title with Marco Penge, who started the tournament as the only other who could claim the crown, back on four under at the start of play today.
Hatton needs to win the tournament and have McIlroy finish worse than tied for eighth to win it.
