A quadruple bogey and a two-stroke penalty have kept McIlroy from running away with it despite 25 birdies on the week.
Rory McIlroy will start the final round of the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship two strokes behind leader Jon Rahm, undone less by bad golf than by a few spectacular blow-ups mixed in with the good stuff.
The numbers tell the story. McIlroy has made 25 birdies at Yas Links this week, including 11 in Friday's second round, when he shot a 9-under 63. That round made personal history for him. But he has also carded a quadruple bogey, a double bogey and three bogeys, the kind of scorecard that turns a potential runaway into a one-shot deficit on the leaderboard behind Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton.
Some of the damage was out of his hands. During Thursday's opening round, McIlroy was hit with a two-stroke penalty after officials ruled he had inadvertently improved his lie in the rough on the 12th hole, a harsh break given how well he has otherwise played.
Even with the setbacks, McIlroy heads into Sunday with a real chance at the title, the 22nd DP World Tour event he could add to his résumé. He will simply need a cleaner round, and a bit of help from the players ahead of him, to close the two-shot gap on Rahm.