Shane Lowry Grinds Through to Stay in Contention at Dubai Invitational; McIlroy Lurking
Shane Lowry didn’t have his best stuff early on Saturday at the Dubai Invitational, but what he lacked in rhythm, he made up for in grit. After stumbling out of the gate with two early bogeys, the Irishman settled in, birdied three of his final 12 holes, and clawed his way to a one-under 70 to stay firmly in the hunt heading into Sunday’s final round.
Lowry now finds himself tied for second alongside Dylan Frittelli and Marcus Armitage, just two shots behind leader Nacho Elvira, who carded a 68 to move to eight-under par. For Lowry, it’s a chance to end a three-year drought without an individual win - his last coming at the 2022 BMW PGA Championship - and he knows exactly what’s at stake.
“It was a grind today,” Lowry admitted. “Got off to a bad start.
Didn't really have it early on. A couple of really, really bad mistakes, and I just hung in there well.”
That grind mentality was evident throughout the round. After bogeys at the third and fifth, Lowry turned things around with a sharp birdie at the par-4 seventh, where he muscled a 189-yard approach from the rough to inside four feet. He followed that up with a brilliant sand save at the ninth, sticking a 140-yard recovery to four feet for another birdie.
Perhaps the most telling moment of his round came at the par-5 13th. After finding water with his second shot, Lowry regrouped and got up and down from 83 yards to save par - the kind of momentum-preserving play that doesn’t show up in highlight reels but wins tournaments.
He stayed steady down the stretch, draining an 11-footer for par at the tricky 16th, then rolling in a seven-foot birdie at 17 to pull within two shots of the lead. On 18, he nearly capped the round with another birdie, but his 10-foot putt lipped out after a strong approach from a tough lie in the right rough.
Still, Lowry walked off the course upbeat and confident in his game.
“When I got over par early, it's tricky out there,” he said. “Obviously, there are a few good scores, but there are a lot of average and bad scores out there. I just felt like I needed to stay patient and keep doing what I was doing and my chances will come.”
Lowry also had team competition on his mind - his squad, captained by Paul Dunne, finished third in the team event, one shot behind the winners. But make no mistake, Sunday is all about the individual title.
“Obviously, when it comes to tomorrow, I want to try and win the individual event,” he said. “It's the reason I get up in the morning.
Try my best. Working as hard as I can, and yeah, hopefully it will come soon.”
Right behind him, Rory McIlroy is quietly setting himself up for a Sunday charge. After a frustrating 74 on Friday, McIlroy bounced back with a composed 68 to move to five-under, just three back of Elvira.
“Yeah, a little bit better than yesterday,” McIlroy said. “Kept the ball dry instead of the four water balls I had.”
That alone was a win, considering the wind picked up again, making conditions tricky. McIlroy birdied the first, gave it back with a bogey at the fourth, but stayed patient and played the back nine in three-under - a stretch that included three birdies and no dropped shots.
For McIlroy, this week was initially about knocking off some rust ahead of the Desert Classic, but now he’s in the thick of it.
“I was looking at this week as honestly a bit of a practice week,” he said. “But it's great to go into a final round tomorrow in contention and have a chance to win a tournament.”
With a win, six runner-up finishes, and 15 top-fives in his first start of the season over the years, McIlroy knows how to perform in this spot. And Sunday will offer him another chance to test his game under pressure - something he welcomes.
“Any time that you're at the business end of proceedings on the final day, you learn a lot about your game,” he said. “Tomorrow will be a good day for me.”
As for the man they’re all chasing, Nacho Elvira isn’t blinking. The Spaniard has two DP World Tour wins to his name and showed no signs of nerves on Saturday, playing his final 10 holes in four-under to post a 68.
He’s well aware of the heavy hitters breathing down his neck - he played alongside Lowry and saw firsthand what the Irishman can do when he catches fire - but Elvira is keeping it simple.
“Some big guys coming up,” he said. “They are great players.
I played with Shane today. He's obviously a level above, like we all know.
But I'm going to try to stick to my game and see where that puts me.”
If that puts him on top, great. If not, he says, so be it.
Elsewhere in the field, Tom McKibbin carded a 72 and sits tied for 42nd at six-over, while Pádraig Harrington struggled with a 75, dropping him to 49th in the 58-man field at nine-over.
But all eyes now turn to Sunday, where Lowry, McIlroy, and Elvira headline a tightly packed leaderboard. With the wind forecasted to stay up and pressure mounting, it’s shaping up to be a final round worth watching.