Saturday 23 January 2016 18:41, UK
Rory McIlroy is looking forward to a "sprint to the finish" after he ended an enthralling third day tied for the lead at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.
McIlroy produced a stylish birdie-eagle finish to his second-round 70 following another lengthy fog delay, lipping out with his 100-yard approach to 17 and shaving the edge of the cup again at 18 with a stunning five-wood from almost 270 yards.
The world No 3 managed only nine holes of his third round before darkness halted play, during which he jostled for the lead with Andy Sullivan before the Englishman ran up an ugly triple-bogey seven at the ninth after losing a ball off the tee.
That left McIlroy in a share of the lead on 10 under par with good friend Rickie Fowler, Ryder Cup team-mate Ian Poulter, Branden Grace and Joost Luiten, with play set to resume at 3:40am (GMT) assuming the fog relents.
McIlroy birdied the second, fourth and eighth holes although he blotted his card with a three-putt bogey at the fifth, and he said: "It was a solid enough nine. I obviously played them a bit better than I played them yesterday.
"I thought if it could have been maybe one better - I had a three-putt on five - but I thought it was a solid nine holes, and I did what I needed to do. Your rhythm is a bit off (with the delays), stop and start.
"But I felt like I played well those nine holes and made a couple of nice putts, gave myself a few more chances and I'm in a decent position going into tomorrow. It's a really bunched leaderboard, and it will be a bit of a sprint to the finish.
"There's 27 holes left to play and hopefully I can play a good back nine and set myself up for an exciting last 18."
Sullivan was two clear of the field before his mishap at his final hole of the day, when he could not determine if his ball had found the water and a five-minute search of several bushes proved fruitless.
He compounded the error by missing an eight-foot putt to limit the damage to a six, and a sympathetic McIlroy added: "It wasn't great to see. I was hoping he would have made that putt just to give him a little bit of momentum going into tomorrow."
Poulter made a significant move when he reeled off four birdies in a superb five-hole run around the turn, although he missed the chance to take the outright lead when he misread his six-foot putt from another birdie at 13.
"I holed a couple of nice putts, which was key to moving up the board, and I'm quite happy," said the 40-year-old. "I played real solid. I was able to hit some good shots, I was able to take advantage and hole a couple of nice putts and now I find myself on the board.
"It's nice to see myself up there on the board. It's nice to get off to a good start to 2016 and hopefully I can continue that through tomorrow and have a good finish."
Fowler was also on the charge in the fading light as he birdied 10 and 11 before play was suspended, and he said: "The last two holes - 10 and 11 - I hit some good shots and I made a good putt to finish on the 11th. The game feels good, I'm happy to make a couple of putts there at the last.
"I decided to hit the putt on 11 after the horn blew - I just wanted to make it to kind of keep things going - and I'm looking forward to getting back out tomorrow.
"I've kind of rounded into form as the week has gone on. I'm looking forward to getting back, get some food and rest. It's going to be a long day tomorrow and hopefully a lot of birdies."
