Rahm leads at Abu Dhabi after third round as McIlroy closes in

Jon Rahm leads the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship after three rounds, on 18 under par. Under par means strokes below the course's set total, so Rahm is 18 shots better than par over his first 54 holes.

He got there with a 66 at Yas Links, six under par for the round, according to BBC Sport. At the halfway stage he had shared the lead on 12 under with Tyrrell Hatton and Francesco Laporta. A six-under round took him six shots clear of that pair's position.

Hatton and Laporta are one shot behind him on 17 under. Each shot a 67 in the third round, five under par for the day, and both stayed close enough to make the final round interesting.

Rory McIlroy sits fourth on 16 under, two shots back. He also carded a 67 on Saturday's third round, the same score as Hatton and Laporta. The bigger story of his week came the day before. He made 11 birdies in the second round, a birdie being one stroke under par on a hole. Sky Sports reported that 11 was a career-high total for McIlroy in a single round. His 63 that day moved him from the chasing pack to within one shot of the lead after two rounds.

Adam Scott is fifth on 15 under, three shots off the lead.

Yas Links is a links-style course, a term for a seaside layout, though in Abu Dhabi the sea is replaced by desert and water hazards. Those hazards can turn a comfortable three-shot lead into something much tighter. A player with a cushion has to protect it, while the chasers have to attack the flags. That is the trade-off that makes the last round so hard to call.

For the leaders, the final round is about protecting a lead that has been built on accurate iron play and holed putts. For McIlroy and the players behind him, it is about a run of birdies. He has shown on this course that such a run is possible.

Rahm's lead is two shots over Hatton and Laporta, and four over McIlroy. The last round will settle the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship, and it will do so one swing at a time.