Rory McIlroy remained in contention to start 2026 with a tournament victory as he sat three shots behind leader Nacho Elvira with one round to play in the Dubai Invitational.

World number two McIlroy carded four birdies and a bogey in a third-round 68 at Dubai Creek Resort on Saturday to lie in fifth position on five under par.

Spaniard Elvira also posted a 68 to move two shots clear at the top of the leaderboard as he aims for a third DP World Tour win of his career.

Ireland’s Shane Lowry, who shared the lead with Elvira after the second round, battled to a 70 to sit in a tie for second place with England’s Marcus Armitage (68) and South African Dylan Fritelli, who had an impressive 66.

Lowry made a disappointing start to his round as he dropped shots at the third and sixth, before picking up birdies at the seventh, ninth and 17th holes.

The former Open champion is hoping to secure his first individual title since winning the BMW PGA Championship in 2022.

McIlroy told Sky Sports that he was using his first competitive outing of the year as something of “a practice week” to “shake the rust off” for next week’s Dubai Desert Classic but added that he was still keen to clinch a win.

The five-time major winner fired seven birdies in an opening 66 to lead after round one but hit four shots into the water in an erratic second-round 74 on Friday.

“A little bit better than yesterday, kept the ball dry instead of the four water balls I had [in the second round],” reflected McIlroy after his round on Saturday.

“It was a tricky enough day, the wind was up again, not maybe as much as Friday.

“I got off to a slow start but stayed patient and hung in there and was rewarded with three birdies on the back nine. It’s great to go into the final round in contention, with a chance to win a tournament.”

Scotland’s Ewen Ferguson and Englishman Matt Wallace reached three under, while Tommy Fleetwood moved to level par after following up his 78 on Friday with a third-round 66.