DUBAI — Rory McIlroy was in a class of his own Saturday, seizing a four-shot lead with a six-under-par 66 after the third round of the Dubai Desert Classic. The world No. 1 reeled off five birdies in the opening eight holes before picking up his sixth shot of a faultless round at the 17th to finish with a 20-under tally of 196. Denmark's Morten Orum Madsen (66), chasing his second European Tour win, was in second place on 200, two ahead of Britain's Lee Westwood (69). “The front nine was very good as I didn't put a foot wrong and when I missed a short putt on 10 it seemed like that momentum I had just sort of went away and I had to scramble a little bit for pars coming in,” McIlroy told reporters. “It was nice then to make a birdie on 17 ... and to go out there today with no bogeys for a second day in a row.” Scotland's Stephen Gallacher, chasing his third straight Desert Classic victory, was back on 203 after a 70. Also on 13-under were English pair Andy Sullivan and Danny Willett and Bernd Wiesberger of Austria. Ko seizes lead In Florida, teen star Lydia Ko birdied five straight holes on the back nine to take a one-stroke lead after the third round of the season-opening LPGA Tour's Coates Golf Championship Friday. The 17-year-old from New Zealand is a shot ahead of rookie Jang Ha-na and could become the youngest male or female player ever to reach No. 1 in the world rankings with a victory here. “I have been putting good the last few days. I just have to stay in that mood,” Ko said. Ko, who finished 54 holes at 14-under 202, has five career LPGA Tour wins with three of those coming last year. Jang, the second-round leader, posted a one-under 71 at Golden Ocala Golf course in Florida and is alone in second place at 13-under. Choi Na-yeon, another South Korean, carded a six-under 66 to jump into third place at 12-under-par 204. American Stacy Lewis shot two-under 70 for the second straight round and the world No. 3 is alone in fourth at 10-under 206. Amy Yang equaled Ko's 65 and jumped into a share of fifth at nine-under. Yang was joined there by Jessica Korda (69) and Austin Ernst (70). Ko had a strong front nine with four birdies. But she began the back nine with back-to-back bogeys before catching fire and then surging to five straight birdies. She closed with two pars. “I was kind of shocked,” Ko said of the bogeys. “But it got me fired up. I jammed my putter in the bag and said, ‘You've got to start working again,' and I made good birdies on 12 to 16.” Ko said she plans to manage her game in Saturday's final round and not think about what others are doing. “There are so many great players one to four shots back and you just never know what's going to happen,” she said. “I'm just going to concentrate on my game, just stay really positive, and if somebody else shoots a much better score than I do, I can't really do much about it.” — Agencies
