Rory McIlroy will take a one-shot lead into the final round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship - with the winner set too claim €1.1M in prize-money.
A third-round 67 fired the World No. 7 to the top of the leaderboard, where he holds a slender lead over English ace Tyrrell Hatton, who sits at 12-under par.
Tommy Fleetwood is one shot behind Hatton on -11 and two off the lead held by McIlroy.
A dramatic double-bogey on the 18th saw World No. 3 Justin Thomas miss the cut in his second round.
Rafa Cabrera Bello sits in solo sixth position on nine-under par after the Spaniard followed up consecutive rounds of 67 with a disappointing 73.
American David Lipsky and Scotland's Marc Warren are tied for fourth place at 10-under heading into Sunday's fourth round.
McIlroy opened with a flawless eight-under par 64 and followed that up with a level-par 72 in an up-and-down second round.
His five-under 67 today included an eagle and five birdies and the 32-year-old is likely to need another strong round tomorrow to fend off the challenges of the star-studded chasing pack.
