The world No 3 can claim the season-long title for the sixth time if he finishes first or second at Yas Links.
But after racing to seven-under after 13 holes, he bunkered his tee-shot at the 211-yard 17th and took five more to get down after thinning his recovery into another greenside trap.
He birdied the last to card a second successive 67 but at 10 -under, he’s tied for 14th, nine shots behind England’s Paul Waring, who fired a course-record 11-under 61 to lead by five shots from American Johannes Veerman, England’s Tommy Fleetwood and Danish pair Niklas Norgaard and Thorbjorn Olesen.
“I played quite nice up to that point, and I feel like I hit a nice shot into 17,” McIlroy said.
“Nice flighted 5-iron, hit the downslope, trundled into the bunker, and then it wasn’t a great shot in the first place. The club bounced on me.
“There wasn’t a lot of sand wherever the ball was in the bunker there, and I just sort of made a mess of it from there.”
McIlroy shot a third-round 63 to come from ten shots behind at halfway to win the Dubai Desert Classic in January.
Special
But he feels he may he need an even more special effort today – and firmer conditions – to give himself a chance this week. “It will be up to me. I shot 63 on that Saturday in Dubai this year, and I’m going to need something similar, if not lower seeing what the scores are like, to give myself a chance going into the final day,” he said.
Shane Lowry moved up to joint 17th on nine-under after a 66 but Tom McKibbin was projected to remain outside the top 10 who will be awarded dual membership of the PGA Tour after a 69 left him tied for 35th on seven-under.
At the final stage of the six-round DP World Tour Qualifying School in Spain, Dermot McElroy was just a shot outside the top 20 and ties who will win cards after opening with a four-under 67 on the Lakes Course.
Amateur Max Kennedy shot a one-under 70 at the same Tarragona venue to share 73rd as playing partner Felix Mory of France fired a 10 -under 61 to head the field by a shot.
Gary Hurley bounced back from three-over after ten to shoot a level-par 72 on the Hills Course to share 96th with only the top 65 and ties set to make the 72-hole cut.
Meanwhile, the 2025 KPMG Women’s Irish Open has been confirmed for Carton House from July 3-6, the week before the Evian Championship.
The purse is up €50,000 to €450,000 thanks to a matched funding agreement between Sport Ireland and promoters ForeFront Group.
Abu Dhabi HSBC C’ship, 4.0am
World Wide Technology C’ship, 7pm
Charles Schwab Cup C’ship, 10pm
(all live on Sky Sports)
