Aaron Rai pulls ahead in Abu Dhabi as brilliant 66 sets up final-round duel

The Englishman shared the halfway lead with countryman Tommy Fleetwood on 14 under par but put his foot to the floor in perfect scoring conditions on Saturday to hit the front on his own.

Rai turned in 31 after picking up five shots on the front nine before adding further birdies at the 11th and 14th, with his only bogey of the day coming on the 17th.

He had led by three during the closing stages of his round but a late bogey and strong finishes from the chasing pack ate into his advantage.

His third-round 66 sees him go into Sunday's fourth round on 20 under par, one clear of nearest challengers Fleetwood and Nicolai Højgaard.

Two-time former champion Fleetwood made an eagle and three birdies in his flawless 67, while Højgaard's 65 featured eight birdies and one bogey.

Nacho Elvira was another shot further back on 18 under after his birdie-birdie finish.

Rai, who already has one Rolex Series win to his name, knows how big an achievement it would be to get another on Sunday.

He said: "This is a huge event. This is one of the biggest events we have on the DP World Tour.

"To win this week, to have a chance going into the weekend, is great.

"Still a long way to go and a lot of really good players. Yeah, we'll give it our best and see how it comes."

Speaking about his day's work, Rai added: "A really good round overall. Drove it extremely well. Some really good iron play. Created a lot of chances.

"I felt like I rolled it really well on the greens. A lot of putts had a good chance of going in.

"The wind definitely picked up for us on the back nine. Yeah, it played tricky out there, especially the back nine."