Stenson, Cabrera-Bello share three-shot lead heading into World Tour Championship's final

Swedish golfer Henrik Stenson and Span's Rafael Cabrera-Bello became joint leaders after three rounds of the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

Defending champion Stenson carded a four-under 68 to be 14 under with one round remaining, while Cabrera-Bello shot a 65 and they both share a three-shot lead now going into the fourth and final round.

Stenson was briefly joined at the top of the leaderboard by world number one Rory McIlroy, only for the European Tour Race to Dubai winner to double-bogey 12 and 13.

The Northern Irishman's 70 left him four behind, The BBC reported.

McIlroy made light of a two-shot deficit on overnight leader Stenson by knocking in four birdies in his opening 10 holes. But the world number one shot an ugly six on the par-four 12th and a five at the par-three 13th to tumble down the leaderboard.

 

McIlroy said that it was annoying to follow a double with another one, but it was nice to get a couple back and keep himself within touching distance.

Looking ahead to Sunday's final round, the four-time major winner added that he would try to get off to a fast start, as he can't afford to stay patient.

Stenson said that it would mean a lot to successfully defend the title but acknowledged Cabrera-Bello was on fire. He added that it's been a good year, but when one assesses it one always looks at the trophies and there hasn't been one yet.