Rory McIlroy put himself in prime position to win his national Open for the first time as the third round of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Hosted by the Rory Foundation was completed on Sunday morning.
The Northern Irishman has 12 wins on the European Tour - including four Major Championships - but had missed the last three cuts at the Irish Open with a best finish of seventh in 2008.
He has had no such problems this week, however, and recorded the only bogey-free score of the third round with a 70 that moved him to nine under, three shots clear of Masters Tournament champion Danny Willett.
"To be leading going into the final round is great," said McIlroy.
I am a little disappointed because it's not a little bit more but to have a three-shot lead is great and I am in the best position I can be - Rory McIlroy
"We have a pretty strong leaderboard so it should be a brilliant final round.
"That's my first bogey-free round in a while and if I can continue to keep the bogeys of the card and pick up a few birdies then I will be alright. That will be the game plan."
Willett is playing his first European Tour event since that sensational win at Augusta National in April and the two highest-ranked players in the field will go out in the final group of the day at 11.00am.
I'm only three back going into the final round, so there's still everything to play for - Danny Willett
"There was just an hour yesterday where things got away from me a little bit unfortunately. But there were good reasons for that, so in those conditions you're always likely to drop a few shots.
"You've just got to take it on the chin. It's been scrappy at times but I've also hit some good golf shots, and hopefully I can hit a few more this afternoon."
Both men had to return to the 16th tee on Sunday after nearly four hours of play was lost on day three, but on a calm morning at The K Club with the sun breaking through, they parred their way home, with Willett signing for a 74.
McIlroy pushed his drive on the 16th but seemed unfazed by the early start after that, with England's Willett also getting back into the clubhouse with the minimum of fuss, although both players may have been frustrated by squandered birdie chances on the par five 18th.
South African Richard Sterne was on the 16th when the horn sounded for darkness at 8.29pm on Saturday night and he had a slightly more adventurous morning as he birdied the par five before dropping a shot on the 17th to stay at five under.
That put him alongside Scot Russell Knox, who had completed his round on Saturday, and a shot clear of Englishmen Tyrrell Hatton and Matthew Southgate, and South African Jaco Van Zyl.
Southgate enjoyed an impressive morning with birdies on the closing two holes, while Van Zyl also made a gain on the last.
Frenchmen Grégory Bourdy and Romain Wattel, Spaniards Rafa Cabrera Bello and Jorge Campillo, and Welshmen Jamie Donaldson and Bradley Dredge were then all at three under.
