Dubai: Treble-chasing defending champion Stephen Gallacher refused to relinquish his crown to Rory McIlroy despite trailing the world No.1 by seven strokes after round three of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club on Saturday.
McIlroy shot another bogey-free round of six under par 66 on Saturday to go 20-under-par for the tournament heading into the final day.
Meanwhile, 2013 and 2014 Dubai champion, Gallacher only carded a two-under-par 70 on Saturday to share tied for fourth at 13 under par with Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger and English duo Andy Sullivan and Danny Willett.
Denmark’s Mortern Orum Madsen stands four strokes behind McIlroy in second while England’s Lee Westwood is six shots behind in third.
Despite McIlroy’s runaway lead, Gallacher - who is looking to become only the sixth golfer to win the same event three times in a row in European Tour history - said he hadn’t given up hope of equaling Ernie Els record three-wins in Dubai.
“It was a tough scoring day,” said Gallacher, who carded two birdies and three bogeys on his front nine and three birdies on his return. “The wind got up today [Friday] and the greens were a bit firmer. It was really tough to get the ball close to the hole.
“I had to dig deep on the back nine but I didn’t feel like anything was going for me. I didn’t feel particularly good but I hung in there, I’m still in contention with one round to go.
“It was just one of those days, you have it [from time to time]. The ball might drop tomorrow and that’s the beauty of this game.
“I’ve just got to shoot a low score tomorrow, chuck in a 64 and see what happens. You never know what’s going to happen in this game, I can’t think anybody else either, I can only do what I can do and I know I’ve shot low numbers around here before, you just need one of those.
“I knew at the start of the week that it would take one low round and three decent rounds, so it might come tomorrow [Sunday].”
McIlroy, who shot five birdies on his front nine and one on his return, said saving par after hitting the ball in the water on the 18th hole gave him a psychological edge going into Sunday.
“It meant a lot to bogey-free again,” said the four-time Major winning Northern Irishman. “It almost felt as good as a birdie. When you’re going out with the lead, not to make any mistakes makes it that much harder for anyone else. So, just to get that up-and-down on the last was big for momentum going into tomorrow [Sunday].
“I’m four ahead going into the final day and have put myself into a great position to win tomorrow [Sunday]. I’ve been in this position many times before [however] and I know the pitfalls that are waiting out there. So it’s just a matter of sticking to the same game plan, being aggressive, making committed swings and giving myself as many chances for birdie as I can,” he added.
