Tyrrell Hatton will take a one-stroke lead into the final round of the 2026 DP World Tour Championship. However, much of the attention on the Earth course is on the fight for the Race to Dubai title going on behind him.
Hatton is nine under par, one clear of France’s Victor Perez. Rory McIlroy, his playing partner, birdied the last to stay level with pre-tournament leader Eugenio Chacarra on five under. Chacarra had shot a third-round 68. That leaves the two men in what looks like a straight shootout for the Harry Vardon Trophy, with McIlroy chasing a record-equalling eighth Race to Dubai Rankings title.
Jon Rahm’s win at last week’s Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship had given him an outside chance of top spot. Patrick Reed led the standings for much of the season. Both now need an unlikely run of results on Sunday.
“I know tomorrow’s going to be a tough day, I’ve got enough experience down these last few holes to know that anything can happen,” said Hatton. “I’ll just go out tomorrow and try my best.”
A fast start on Moving Day
Only 14 players were under par going into the weekend. Joe Dean showed early on that lower scores were possible, with three birdies in a row from the second hole.
Chacarra needed a good round after an up-and-down first 36 holes, and he birdied the first. McIlroy hit his opening drive 334 yards, the longest on that hole all week, but his 15-foot birdie putt slid past the hole.
Hatton had built his halfway total on the first three holes, and he used them again. After a superb approach at the par-five second, he holed from ten feet for an eagle that put him two clear.
Swings at the top of the DP World Tour Championship leaderboard
Perez had finished his second round with an eagle. He kept that momentum going with three birdies in his first seven holes, and he shared the lead after Hatton bogeyed the difficult fifth.
McIlroy looked to have landed a big blow when he eagled the seventh to go top. He then bogeyed the eighth and ninth, though, and Hatton birdied the ninth and tenth. That left Hatton three clear and McIlroy four behind.
Chacarra then birdied the 15th and 16th, celebrating the first with a big fist pump. Rahm made three birdies in four holes around the turn. That briefly left all three Race to Dubai contenders tied for sixth on four under.
At the par-five 14th, McIlroy hit his wedge close from an awkward lie in the rough, then matched Hatton’s birdie after the Englishman got up and down. Rahm’s double bogey at the 16th hurt his chances. Chacarra reached the 18th green in two and holed for birdie to sign for a 68.
Perez birdied the 15th, 16th and 17th for a 67 and an eight-under total. He will play alongside Hatton in Sunday’s final group. Hatton added another birdie at the 16th after a perfect wedge.
“Every putt I had coming in, I think from 13, the par three, just unbelievably fast and (I’m) really happy with how I putted today,” said Hatton. “I think my iron play’s been pretty good these last two weeks. Last week I was really happy with my wedges, this week it’s a little bit harder to get the wedges right.”
Bradbury posts the round of the week
Francesco Laporta eagled the seventh and moved into second with three birdies in four holes from the 13th. A bogey at the last dropped him back to five under, where he shares fourth with Adam Scott, Chacarra and McIlroy. Scott got there with a 67.
Reed was eight over after two rounds and had all but dropped out of the Race to Dubai. He showed glimpses of his early-season form with a 67. Rahm birdied the last but sits just outside the top ten on three under.
Dan Bradbury shot the round of the week so far, a 66 that included five closing birdies. He narrowly missed an eagle at the last, and the round moved him to four under par.
