Sunday 1 February 2015 08:33, UK
Rory McIlroy was relieved to get through the third round of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic without a bogey on his card after scrambling hard for pars in his six-under 66.
The world No 1 looked set to break Stephen Gallacher's 54-hole record score of 21 under par after he picked up five birdies over the first eight holes to storm six strokes clear of the field.
He lost momentum when he lipped out from barely two feet for birdie at the 10th, and he then became ragged off the tee and did well to string together eight straight pars before getting up and down from thick rough for birdie at 17.
McIlroy's drive at the last leaked into the first cut, and his attempt to find the green in two came up short as his four-iron from over 200 yards failed to clear the water.
But he pitched to 20 feet and rolled in another excellent putt to make it two whole rounds without a blemish on his card, and he will head into the last round four shots clear of Morten Orum Madsen.
"It meant a lot, to be bogey free again today was important to me. To get that up and down on the last was big for momentum going into tomorrow," he told Sky Sports 4.
Great position
"It was nice to make one birdie on 17 and then a great save on the last, it was nice to go round there with no bogeys. I can't complain, another good round and I'm in a great position going into Sunday.
"I was just trying to get as many in front as I could. I knew I had some chances coming in but saying that, the back nine did play tricky. The greens got firm, the wind got up a little bit, so it was hard to get the ball close to the hole.
"You had to hit quality shots to give yourself chances for birdies, and I didn't quite do that on the back nine like I did on the front.
"I didn't put a foot wrong on the front nine and, when I missed that little short putt on 10, it seemed like that momentum I had just sort of went away and had to scramble a little bit for pars coming in.
"I've been in this position many times before, so I know the pitfalls that are waiting out there. It's just a matter of sticking to the same game plan, being aggressive, making committed swings and giving myself as many chances for birdies as I can."
