The final day of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Hosted by the Rory Foundation will see the final group tee-off at approximately 11 am local time (6am ET), with Rory McIlroy and Danny Willett now sitting at the top of the leaderboard, Willett trailing by 3 shots.
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McIlroy, who is seeking his first victory of 2016, was two-under par through 15 holes in the third round when play was suspended for the day.
The world number three had lobbied for play to be suspended due to bad light on Saturday evening as he stood on the 16th tee, nearly four hours of play having been lost earlier due to the threat of lightning in the area.
“It’s disappointing that we didn’t get to play the whole 18, ” McIlroy said. “But it was getting dark out there”.
The 27-year-old has carded two birdies to date with no dropped shots but Augusta hero Willett struggled, dropping three shots on the front nine.
By that stage McIlroy had assumed pole position after Willet had found life on the course especially tough, and he is +2 on the resumption of play for Sunday morning.
Willett remained three shots behind with Scotland’s Russell Knox and South Africa’s Richard Sterne another stroke adrift, Knox making a fortunate birdie on the 16th after his approach hit rocks on the edge of a water hazard but bounced forward on to the green.
Can the top three players in the world really all win in a two-week span?
Warren was left to rue an error-ridden start to his third round as he bogeyed six of his first 10 holes, before recording a birdie at the 12th to end his day three under after 15.
“It’s been scrappy at times but I’ve also hit some good golf shots, and hopefully I can hit a few more”.
Rory McIlroy, who hasn’t won since late a year ago, has a chance to break through before the home fans.
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The remainder of the third round was completed early this morning to prepare for the arrival of more poor conditions and McIlroy continues to hold a two-shot lead in the final round, with Russel Knox chasing him in second place.
