DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Rory McIlroy was on the rocks late in his third round at the DP World Tour Championship.
Some cliff-edge improvisation, followed by a final-hole birdie, put him back in control.
Seeking a second straight victory to end his season, McIlroy endured another wild finish at Jumeirah Golf Estates in shooting a 5-under 67 that left the four-time major champion with a one-stroke lead on Saturday.
Sam Horsfield bogeyed the 18th hole to shoot 69 and drop out of a share of the lead with McIlroy, who was 14 under overall in the season-closing event on the European Tour.
Full-field scores from the DP World Tour Championship
Collin Morikawa, still on course to become the first American to finish a season as the tour’s No. 1 player, was three shots back in a four-way share of fifth place after his round of 69.
Standing on the tee at the par-3 17th hole holding a one-stroke lead, McIlroy missed the green left and saw the ball bounce through the rough and dance along the edge of the cliffs. It eventually settled on a ledge, to gasps among spectators.
McIlroy opted against taking a drop, which was the preferred choice of his caddie, Harry Diamond, and managed to clip a shot off the stone and through the green. He missed the return chip by inches, but a par was a good result given what could have happened.
“Harry was pleading with me not to hit it,” McIroy said. “He was like, ‘We can just go back and make 4 at the last.’”
McIlroy then pitched to 9 feet with his third shot – from just on the green – at the par-5 18th and holed the birdie putt which would regain the lead after Horsfield’s bogey a few minutes later.
McIlroy, who won the CJ Cup in Las Vegas last month, closed his second round on Friday with a double-bogey 7 after hitting into water at the 18th.
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