The final day of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Hosted by the Rory Foundation will see the final group tee-off at approximately 11 am, with Rory McIlroy and Danny Willett currently sitting at the top of the leaderboard.
Tickets to see two of the very best players in the world do battle for one of the biggest titles in European golf are available on the gate for what is shaping up to be an epic Sunday at The K Club.
McIlroy ended a long day on Saturday with a three-shot lead over Masters champion Willett, having reached nine under par through 15 holes of his third round.
Despite two suspensions due to the threat of lightning and heavy downpours at The K Club, the tournament Host kept the bogeys off his card – and was the only player to do so – before fast fading light led to play eventually being abandoned at 8.29pm.
The World Number Three will return to the 16th hole at 7.30am on Sunday morning to complete his third round, as will overnight leader Willett, who dropped back to six under par after mixing three bogeys with one birdie in his 15 holes.
McIlroy has never won his national Open, but will be the firm favourite to break his drought after a superbly controlled performance in testing conditions.
The 27 year old birdied the par five fourth hole for the third day in succession and, after the first suspension in play, rolled in his second birdie putt of the day at the tenth to establish a lead which he never looked like relinquishing.
“I just have to approach tomorrow like I did today, just take whatever comes and just make sure I'm ready to go whenever they tell us to go play,” said McIlroy on Saturday evening. “I feel like my game is good enough that I'll keep giving myself chances, hit fairways, hit greens, and if I can knock a few in, hopefully that will be good enough to get the job done tomorrow.
“It would be amazing if I could get my first win of the year here. I get goosebumps thinking about it, so I can't really think about it too much just now. No matter what the circumstances are, whether I’ve won the week before or whether I haven’t won in six months, to win the Irish Open would be something very special.”
Willett said: “It was a long day. It was tricky out there, stopping and starting. Hopefully we can get some good weather tomorrow and everyone can get done. It’s tough to kind of get your mindset, sitting around in between, you get a bit tired and it's obviously not the warmest place in the world.
“There’s a good leaderboard shaping up, and if we can get it all finished then it’s all set up for a good Sunday.”
