Aaron Rai started the day tied for the lead and fired a 6-under 66 marred by a single bogey to take the solo lead at 20-under heading into the final day at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

“A really good round overall. Drove it extremely well. Some really good iron play. Created a lot of chances,” said Rai. “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.”

Rai last won on the DP World Tour at the 2020 Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open.

“This is a huge event. This is one of the biggest events we have on the DP World Tour,” he added. “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.”

Fellow Englishman Tommy Fleetwood stayed bogey-free and eagled the par-5 7th but made just three birdies and moved down into a share of second place at 19-under.

Denmark’s Nicolai Højgaard made one bogey and closed with a 67 to move up into a share of second place.

Spain’s Nacho Elvira made eight birdies and one bogey for a 65 and lies in solo fourth place at 4-under.

England’s Andy Sullivan signed for a bogey-free 67 and a share of fifth place at 17-under alongside New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier who made two bogeys for a 65.

Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy lies in T12 at 14-under after closing with a 66 featuring one bogey.

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