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Defending champion Rory McIlroy conceded he was a “long shot” to retain his title despite a brilliant finish to his third round on Saturday at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic after Danny Willett fired six birdies and an eagle in a second consecutive 65 at Emirates Golf Club to finish 16 under par. One shot ahead of halfway leader Rafael Cabrera-Bello, who returned a third straight 67.
McIlroy began the day six shots off the lead and looked to have blown his chances of a third victory at Emirates Golf Club with a front nine of 37, including a double-bogey six on the ninth.
However, for the second day running the world number two — who was outside the projected cut after 11 holes on Friday — salvaged his round on the back nine, covering it in 31 with six birdies to card a 68 and finish eight under par.
“I would have to play the front nine much better than I have the last two days; I’ve played it in five over and that’s just not good enough,” McIlroy told Sky Sports.
“It’s going to be a long shot. I came back from seven shots behind at Wentworth (to win the BMW PGA Championship) a couple of years ago so it’s not out of the realms of possibility, but this is a great field and I’ll need the wind to blow this afternoon.”
World number 20 Willett, who holed from 40 feet for an eagle on the 13th, the same hole where his approach bounced out of a lake to set up an unlikely birdie on Thursday.
“I think mentally I feel like I’m very much in control of myself, which obviously helps,” he said.
“I’m trying to keep it as simple as possible and let the mind be a little bit calmer, and it seems to be working so far.
“I played great golf today. Played really good on Friday and kept the foot down and could have been a couple better today in all fairness, but delighted. It would be nice to win every single event that we play over the span of your career, but this would be special.”
Cabrera-Bello had enjoyed a two-shot lead when he holed a bunker shot on the third for an eagle and followed it with a birdie on the next, but the Spaniard was fortunate to escape with a bogey on the seventh after a collar of rough prevented his tee shot from rolling into the water.
Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen had set the clubhouse target after a flawless 66 left him on 10 under par, one ahead of compatriot Joachim B Hansen, who had earlier completed a spectacular 64.
Hansen only got into the event an hour before teeing off on Thursday as a replacement for the injured Thomas Bjorn and made the halfway cut on the mark of one under after rounds of 72 and 71.
But the Challenge Tour graduate made a flying start to his third round with three straight birdies and started the back nine in even better fashion with an eagle on the 10th followed by four more birdies.
“Thomas actually called me (on Friday) and we had a little chat, he was just happy that I had got something out of his withdrawal,” Hansen said.
“Obviously it’s never great when someone has to withdraw with an injury, but I am pleased that I got into the tournament and have been able to take advantage of that.
“I hit a lot of good shots in the first two rounds and made plenty of birdies but made too many mistakes as well. (On Saturday) there were much less bogeys so the score was obviously a lot better. It was just one of those days where the putts drop and I managed to get on a bit of a roll.”
Three-time winner Ernie Els was a shot off the lead at the start of the day, but ended it nine behind after struggling to a 74 which equalled his worst ever score in 55 rounds in this event.
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