England’s Tyrrell Hatton leads at the DP World Tour Championship but it is the Race to Dubai developing behind him in Sunday’s final round that also shares the attention. Image courtesy DPWT.
By Rahul Banerji
Tyrrell Hatton will take a one-stroke lead into the final round of the 2026 DP World Tour Championship though more attention is on a looming battle behind him.
Rory McIlroy’s closing birdie kept his bid to top the Race to Dubai Rankings on track for a record-equalling eighth time as he responded to pre-tournament leader Eugenio Chacarra’s charge, the DPWT said.
Chacarra recorded his first strong day at the Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai with third-round 4 under par 68 to sit alongside McIlroy on 5 under 211 and in what could be a straight showdown for the Harry Vardon Trophy.
Jon Rahm’s win at last week’s Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship had given him an outside chance at the top spot and Patrick Reed led for much of the season but both now need an unlikely series of events to prevail on Sunday.
Hatton leads the tournament on 9 under 207 with France’s Victor Perez one shot behind.
“It was a good day. It was tricky. The greens were so fast on the back nine,” the Englishman said later.
“Every putt I had coming in I think from 13, the par three, just unbelievably fast. Really happy with how I putted today.
Holding steady
“Had a few like awkward-length par putts early on, and managed to hold them, which was nice. Yeah, overall, just happy with how I played.
“Generally, I think my iron play has been pretty good these last two weeks. Last week I was really happy with my wedges. This week, it’s a little bit harder to get the wedges right to be honest.
“And then the other thing would be just the putter. I did a lot of work with the start line and reading putts and sort of visualising the ball going in. I think that’s shown these two weeks. “
Just 14 players went into the weekend under par, with overnight leaders McIlroy and Hatton at 5 under, but Joe Dean gave an early indication that lower scoring was possible on Moving Day with three straight early birdies.
After an inconsistent first 36 holes, Chacarra needed to post a good score and started in perfect fashion with a birdie.
Dean added another gain at seven, though he was frustrated at missing out on an eagle, while Chacarra picked up a shot at three but gave it straight back at the next.
Missed gain
McIlroy’s opening 334-yard drive was the longest on the first hole this week and he put his approach to 15 feet, but the birdie putt just slipped by.
Hatton, who owed his 5 under-par score for the first two rounds to his performance on holes one to three, hit a superb approach at the par-five second and converted the 10-foot eagle chance to lead by two.
Rahm bogeyed three and four, after a gain at the second, while Francesco Laporta eagled seven to join the group sharing third place on 4 under.
Perez had finished his second round with an eagle and built momentum from that with three birdies in Saturday’s first seven holes to hold second place on 6 under, splitting Hatton and McIlroy on the leaderboard.
The Frenchman soon found himself sharing the lead after Hatton bogeyed the difficult fifth, while Rahm birdied eight to return to two under.
McIlroy seemed to have struck a major blow on seven with an eagle to leapfrog Hatton at the top. HBut the world no. 2 bogeyed the next two, to reach the turn two shots behind as Hatton birdied hole nine.
A repeat performance on 10 left Hatton three clear and McIlroy four off the lead – and Chacarra turned up the pressure further with a birdie at 15 while Rahm made three birdies in four holes around the turn.
Chacarra backed that up at the next to leave the three leading Race to Dubai challengers tied in sixth on 4 under, four shots off Hatton’s lead.
Mixed bag
“The last two weeks it’s been a lot of good, and a lot of bad,” the 2026 Indian Open winner said.
“Made a three-putt on 4 after a good shot, and then made a double with a wedge from the middle of fairway on 5.
“It’s been a grind. I’ve been fighting. I just want to win the tournament. I’m not far away. I think I’m three shots out now.
“Hopefully they don’t make a lot of birdies coming in and I have a shot tomorrow. I know if I win the tournament, I win the Ranking.
“So that’s what I wanted to do in Abu Dhabi and I want to do it here. That’s what we prepare for and I’m going to have a chance on Sunday.
“I’m ready. I love the game of golf, love practising. I work so hard for these moments, and I’m going to go out there and enjoy it.”
Laporta moved second with three birdies in four holes from the 13th, and was rejoined by Perez after the Frenchman’s gain at the 15th. The Italian bogeyed the last to end the day at 5 under 211.
McIlroy hit a nice wedge into the par-five 14th, having found an awkward lie in the rough with his tee shot, but found himself having to respond to a birdie from Hatton after the Englishman’s excellent up-and-down.
McIlroy responded strongly to make his birdie.
Rahm slipped back with a double-bogey at 16 but Chacarra found the green in two at the last and rattled in a birdie for a 68 and a 211 aggregate.
Strong run
Perez made a third successive birdie at 17 to finish on 8 under 208 with a 67 and join Hatton – who picked up another shot courtesy of a perfect wedge into the 16th – in Sunday’s final pairing.
“Really happy obviously with today,” the Frenchman said.
“Still not easy. I think the conditions, it was less windy, and I thought the pins were a little bit easier than yesterday. So I felt like it was a little bit more manageable but still not easy.
“I thought I got off to a decent start, birdieing 7, 8, to get to 3-under, and I felt like 3-under was a really good round today. Plotted our way around the middle of the back nine where I struggled a bit.
“Had to make a few 4- or 5-footers for par, and I made three nice putts towards the end of the round which is a nice bonus.
Rahm finished with a birdie but was just outside the top ten at 3 under 213 while Reed, who had all but slipped out of Race to Dubai contention found a glimpse of his early-season form with a 67 on Saturday.
Adam Scott matched that score to share fourth place with Laporta, Chacarra and McIlroy, and Dan Bradbury then bettered it by one with a 66, the best of the week so far, to lift himself to 4 under 212
Leading round 3 scores
207 T. HATTON (ENG) 70 69 68,
208 V. PEREZ (FRA) 69 72 67,
210 M. LINDBERG (SWE) 72 69 69,
211 A. SCOTT (AUS) 71 73 67, F. LAPORTA (ITA) 69 74 68, E. CHACARRA (ESP) 72 71 68, R. MCILROY (NIR) 69 70 72,
212 D. BRADBURY (ENG) 70 76 66, J. SCHAPER (RSA) 74 68 70, K. REITAN (NOR) 70 70 72,
213 M. WALLACE (ENG) 72 74 67, J. DEAN (ENG) 71 74 68, N. ELVIRA (ESP) 73 71 69, J. OLESEN (DEN) 68 75 70, J. RAHM (ESP) 71 71 71, F. SCHOTT (GER) 69 72 72,
Also read: McIlroy moves into pole position alongside Hatton in Dubai
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