McIlroy fades as Hatton leads in Dubai

Rory McIlroy's hopes of winning a record-equalling eighth Race to Dubai title faded as he fell four shots behind leader Tyrrell Hatton after three rounds of the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.

Northern Irishman McIlroy started Saturday tied for the lead with Hatton but, while the Englishman remained at the top of the field with a four-under-par 68, McIlroy fell away with a 72 at the Earth Course in Dubai.

Hatton, on nine under for the tournament, holds a one-shot lead over France's Victor Perez as he bids for a first DP World Tour Championship, while Sweden's Mikael Lindberg is third on six under.

McIlroy is joint fourth in a group of four players which includes Spain's Eugenio Chacarra, the current leader in the Race to Dubai standings.

Six-time major champion McIlroy began the tournament trailing Chacarra by more than 500 points, but knowing a win would guarantee him an eighth season-long crown to equal the tally set by Scotland's Colin Montgomerie.

McIlroy will clinch the title if he finishes ahead of Chacarra and in the top four.

McIlroy took the outright lead with an eagle three on the par-five seventh, before bogeys on the eighth, ninth and 10th.

A birdie on the 14th was followed by another dropped shot on the 15th, but McIlroy finished with a birdie at the par-five 18th after narrowly missing a six-foot eagle putt.

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