Westwood dazzles on the Earth

Westwood is currently 128,172 euros behind McIlroy in the Race to Dubai standings, but if he wins in Dubai this evening, he'll go home with a historic double and his bank account having swelled by a whopping $2.75 million (Dh 10.09 million) — $1.5m from the Race to Dubai bonus pool and $1.25million the prize for first-place at DWC.

Overnight leader Westwood was in brilliant form yesterday despite the windy conditions, which swept across the face of the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

He made birdies on the fourth and ninth and picked up four more shots on the 10th, 11th, 14th and 18th to return his solid six-under card, even as McIlroy, who started the day on seven-under, drew level at one stage, but slipped when he failed to control his temperament when it mattered the most.

McIlroy, 20, birdied the second, fifth, eighth, 10th, 14th and 15th, but over hit his second shot on the par-four 16th. He was saved as the ball stopping on the edge of the embankment leading into the pond.

His next shot got him out of trouble, but McIlroy was forced to make a 10-foot putt just to save par. He failed there and the result was a first bogey, which made him slip temporarily to 12-under.

More drama

There was more drama to follow as McIlroy notched up another bogey on the 17th before sinking his ball in the stream bisecting the 18th. The penalty meant McIlroy slipped further and his three-under card relegated him to tied-third in a group of three including Irishman Padraig Harrington and Alexander Noren of Sweden.

Westwood said: "I'm playing to a strategy. I've had my highs and lows and I'm back on a high and I'm going to try and continue this way. I'm not focused on the Race, but more on the tournament."

Like his English counterpart Westwood, McGowan too got himself into contention with a superb six-under-par 66, which took him to 13-under-203 after three rounds.

McGowan picked up a shot on the par-five second and then grabbed another four birdies in succession from the 6th to the 9th, making the turn on 31. His back nine included the one birdie sandwiched between eight pars.

Scores

Select third round scores:

201 - Lee Westwood (Britain) 66 69 66

203 - Ross McGowan (Britain) 71 66 66

206 - Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 68 69 69; Rory McIlroy (Britain) 68 69 69; Alexander Noren (Sweden) 70 69 67

207 - Sergio Garcia (Spain) 71 67 69; Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) 70 69 68

208 - Thomas Aiken (South Africa) 68 70 70; Louis Oosthuizen (South Africa) 71 66 71; Adam Scott (Australia) 68 73 67

209 - Bradley Dredge (Britain) 70 71 68; Retief Goosen (South Africa) 69 71 69; Peter Hanson (Sweden) 72 71 66; Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) 72 68 69

210 - Robert Allenby (Australia) 65 72 73; Johan Edfors (Sweden) 69 70 71; Thomas Levet (France) 73 69 68

Jeev Milkha Singh (India) 70 72 68; Camilo Villegas (Colombia) 66 71 73.