European Tour leaderboard LIVE: Dubai Desert Classic scores as Rory McIlroy challenges

McIlroy is a shot off leader Haotong Li, who shot a round of 64 on day three to edge ahead of the pack.

McIlroy had to finish his second round on Saturday morning after Friday’s session ended early due to darkness.

He briefly had the lead before Li took over.

"I've never been in this position before so it's going to be fun out there tomorrow," said Li.

"Hopefully I can do my best out there and have some low scores.

"I just want to play by myself and play my game. I thought if I just stayed patient, I'll play good. So I just stayed patient all day."

Overnight leader Jamie Donaldson suffered a horrendous round of 75 to plummet to 35th on the leader board.

The Welshman carded three over for his third round.

South Africa’s Haydn Porteous and Alexander Levy of France are the two other challengers for the title.

They sit two shots off McIlroy, with defending champion Sergio Garcia nine off the top.