Rory McIlroy moved a significant step closer to securing his seventh Race to Dubai crown after carding a composed four-under-par 68 to share the lead following the third round of the DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates. The newly crowned Career Grand Slam winner, fresh off his Masters triumph in April, finished the day tied at 13-under-par with Denmark’s Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, who matched McIlroy’s score with a steady 68 of his own.
McIlroy, the defending DP World Tour Champion, started slowly after a bogey on the fourth and reached the 14th still level for the day. A late surge, however, brought his round to life back-to-back birdies on 14 and 15 and a clinical nine-footer on the 18th green lifted him to the top of the leaderboard.
Neergaard-Petersen, who topped the HotelPlanner Tour in 2024, recovered impressively from an early bogey on the opening hole. The 26-year-old produced flawless golf thereafter, staying composed in his pursuit of a maiden DP World Tour title and setting up a blockbuster showdown alongside McIlroy in the final group.
The final day promises high drama, with a tightly stacked leaderboard showing 14 players within three shots of the co-leaders. Six players sit one stroke back at 12-under, including Ryder Cup stars Rasmus Højgaard, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tyrrell Hatton, and Tommy Fleetwood, along with Angel Ayora and Laurie Canter.
Højgaard delivered the standout performance of the chasing pack a bogey-free 65 that propelled him from outside the top 15 into a share of third place. The 24-year-old held the overnight lead heading into the final round last year before ultimately finishing runner-up to McIlroy. He will be determined to rewrite that script on Sunday.
Player Reactions:
Rory McIlroy:
“I stayed really patient out there and gave myself plenty of opportunities. It was a battling day with tricky conditions, but I’m happy with the score. The Race to Dubai means a lot to me, and I’ve put myself in a great position heading into tomorrow.”
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen:
“I’m super pleased. I didn’t start well, but stayed patient and gave myself plenty of chances. Playing in the final group with Rory tomorrow will be pretty special. Winning out here has been a big goal this year, so we’ll see what happens.”
Rasmus Højgaard:
“Golf felt easier today. I was more consistent tee-to-green and gave myself good chances. I rolled the putter well and didn’t have to fight as hard to keep the score together.”
About the DP World Tour
The DP World Tour is the main men’s professional golf tour of the European Tour group.
As golf’s global tour, we showcase global talent in global destinations and use our platform to build, entertain and connect our global community.
GLOBAL TALENT: We provide pathways and a platform for the leading international talent, bringing together golfing icons, national heroes and emerging stars from around the world.
GLOBAL DESTINATIONS: We stage tournaments in iconic cities and locations around the world and each week we celebrate and showcase the rich diversity of the courses, cities and cultures we visit.
GLOBAL COMMUNITY: We build, entertain and connect communities through our commitment to innovation, creative content and having a positive social and environmental impact.
Our 2025 Global Schedule features 42 tournaments in 26 different countries and comprises three distinct phases: five ‘Global Swings’, the ‘Back 9’ and the ‘DP World Tour Play-Offs’. It features five Rolex Series events – the premium category of events on the DP World Tour – and four Major Championships, all of which count towards the Race to Dubai Rankings, the Tour’s season-long competition which concludes at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
DP World, the leading provider of global smart end-to-end supply chain and logistics solutions, has been the title partner of the DP World Tour since the start of the 2022 season, the Tour’s 50th season following its formation in 1972.
We also enjoy the support of many of the world’s leading business brands with DP World, Rolex, Aldar, AWS, BMW, Buffalo Trace Distillery, Emirates, Fortinet, Nexo and Vestas as Official Partners.
About the European Tour group
The European Tour group administers the DP World Tour, the HotelPlanner Tour, the Legends Tour and the G4D Tour and, as the Managing Partner of Ryder Cup Europe LLP, stages golf’s greatest team contest, the Ryder Cup, in partnership with the PGA of America.
The European Tour group has Strategic Partnerships with the PGA TOUR, the Sunshine Tour, the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, the China Golf Association (CGA), the Japan Golf Tour Organization (JGTO), the Korea Professional Golfers’ Association (KPGA), and the TATA Steel Professional Golf Tour of India. These partnerships provide global pathways for players from across the world to compete internationally on the DP World Tour, the main men’s professional golf Tour of the European Tour group which was established in 1972, as well as the HotelPlanner Tour.
About the Rolex Series
The Rolex Series is the premium category of events on the DP World Tour, comprising five tournaments in 2025, staged in a variety of world-class golfing locations around the globe, each with a minimum prize fund of US$9 million.
Showcasing innovation, enriched media, content and broadcast coverage, and a superior event experience for both fans and for the world’s top players, the list of Rolex Series Champions includes some of golf’s most distinguished names.
The Rolex Series was launched in 2017, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of Rolex’s enduring partnership with the European Tour group.
In 2025, the Rolex Series comprises; the Hero Dubai Desert Classic (January 16-19), the Genesis Scottish Open (July 10-13) the BMW PGA Championship (September 11-14), the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship (November 6-9) and the DP World Tour Championship (November 13-16). The latter two events comprise the DP World Tour Play-Offs and feature the leading 70 and 50 players from the Race to Dubai, respectively.
