Rory McIlroy may be seven shots back going into the final round of the but the defending champion believes he still has every chance of securing win No. 5 at Emirates Club.

By his usual standards, week in Dubai has been a fairly slow one, with the four-time winner six-under-par after 54 holes, having described his return as 'scrappy' earlier in the week. His best showing of the tournament came in Saturday's third round, where the Northern Irishman carded a three-under-par 69 to move him to six-under for the week.

It was a tale of two nines for the defending champion, after he stumbled out the blocks, going out in 36 to leave him one-over for the day and two-under for the tournament.

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This left him well off the pace, however his week finally kicked into gear on the back nine. The four-time major champion showed exactly why he has such a strong record around the Majlis course, going bogey-free on the back nine and making four birdies to move his name up the leaderboard.

Despite finding himself with work to do, McIlroy still believes he has what it takes to win a third-straight title. "It depends what the conditions are like tomorrow," McIlroy said of potentially becoming champion again whilst the leaders were still out on the course.

Predicting the winning score to be around the 15-under mark, the Northern Irishman believes his past experiences as a four-time champion gives him an opportunity, in a warning to those leading the way. "I’d need to go out and shoot 63 tomorrow," McIlroy commented.

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"If the conditions are right, I’ve been able to do that before. Especially if you can make a score on the front nine before that scorable back nine, that’s my key tomorrow. If I can get off to a faster start and shoot three or four on the front - I’ve got a chance."

The man he will need to chase down to become a five-time champion is Daniel Hillier. The 54-hole leader maintained his overnight lead after carding a two-under 70 on Saturday to leave him at 13-under for the week. Also in McIlroy's way is his teammate and rival

The Englishman opted to return to the DP World Tour this week to kick off his season, with LIV's 2025 campaign not get underway until next month in Riyadh. In typical Hatton fashion his week has included both high-quality golf and controversy, most notably during his third round.

Despite carding an impressive four-under 68 to move into contention, his day was overshadowed by an outburst on the seventh, which saw him strike a tee box with his club. In response, Hatton said afterwards: "Yes, probably shouldn't have done it. Does it make me a bad person?

"No. It's just a spur of the moment thing, and it happened. I can't go back and change it. So move on." For now his attention will be firmly on the task at hand tomorrow, with the Englishman looking to win his fifth Rolex Series event and first Hero Dubai Desert Classic.