Fleetwood One Behind Abu Dhabi Leader Rai

Abu Dhabi Championship third-round leaderboard

-20 A Rai (Eng); -19 T Fleetwood (Eng), N Hojgaard (Den); -18 N Elvira (Spa); -17 A Sullivan (Eng), D Hillier (NZ); -16 R Sterne (SA); -15 S Lowry (Ire), K Nakajima (Jpn), A Del Rey (Spa), J Smith (Eng)

Selected others: -14 R McIlroy (NI), T Hatton (Eng); -13 R MacIntyre (Sco); -11 M Penge (Eng), M Fitzpatrick (Eng), P Reed (US); -10 L Aberg (Swe)

Full leaderboard

Tommy Fleetwood fired 2 birdies successful nan last 3 holes to move 1 changeable down chap Englishman Aaron Rai, who leads nan Abu Dhabi Championship going into Sunday's last round.

Rai, a victor of nan PGA Tour's Wyndham Championship past year, had 7 birdies successful a six-under-par information of 66 astatine nan Yas Links, his only dropped changeable coming connected nan penultimate spread arsenic he reached 20 nether par for nan tournament.

Fleetwood missed a number of birdie putts during his 3rd information but picked up shots astatine 16 and 18 to spell pinch a birdie and eagle connected nan beforehand 9 arsenic he signed for a bogey-free 67.

The in-form world number 5 vanished nan time level pinch Ryder Cup team-mate Nicolai Hojgaard successful 2nd spot aft nan Dane changeable his 2nd 65 of nan week.

Fleetwood has been highly awesome complete nan past fewer months, winning his maiden PGA title astatine nan Tour Championship successful August earlier helping Europe hit nan United States successful nan Ryder Cup successful September.

Last month. nan world number 5 claimed a first DP World Tour title of nan play successful India.

"I americium playing very bully play astatine nan infinitesimal and I person recovered myself successful this position a batch passim nan summer, but I ne'er return it for granted," Fleetwood told nan DP World Tour website.

"This is what you practise for, these are nan times of our lives and I americium enjoying it very much."

Spain's Nacho Elvira, who posted a 65, is 2 shots disconnected nan lead, while Englishman Andy Sullivan and New Zealander Daniel Hillier are tied for 4th connected 17 under.

Rory McIlroy vanished nan time six shots disconnected nan gait pursuing his information of 66, which kept him successful rod position to triumph a seventh Race to Dubai title arsenic nan season's champion golfer connected nan DP World Tour.

The Abu Dhabi Championship is nan first of 2 DP World Tour end-of-season play-off events, pinch nan apical 70 players competing this week and nan starring 50 advancing to adjacent week's finale successful Dubai.

With a full of 9,000 points to beryllium shared among nan section this week (1,500 to nan winner) and 12,000 much adjacent week (2,000 to nan winner), nan Harry Vardon Trophy for nan play title is up for grabs.

Northern Irishman McIlroy, who is 2 down Colin Montgomerie's grounds of 8 years arsenic nan tour's number one, leads nan Race to Dubai standings by conscionable nether 500 points from Marco Penge, nan Englishman who has won 3 times connected circuit this year.

Penge sits connected 11 nether for this week's tourney aft his 70 connected Saturday, finishing pinch a damaging double bogey aft uncovering h2o connected nan par-five 18th.

Fleetwood is almost 2,800 points adrift of McIlroy successful nan Race to Dubai standings truthful to person immoderate chance of a highly improbable wide triumph would request to triumph some play-off events and dream his Ryder Cup team-mate falters.