Nacho Elvira, in his words, was all over the place on the practice range Tuesday at Dubai Creek.
Four days later, the 38-year-old Spaniard, whose two DP World Tour victories have come in the last five years, is in position for his third career title on the European circuit, leading the Dubai Invitational by two shots through three rounds.
“If you would tell me I would have a two-shot lead, I wouldn’t believe you,” said Elvira, who shot 3-under 68 for the second straight day on Saturday to push to 8 under.
Elvira’s closest pursuers, Dylan Frittelli, Marcus Armitage and co-second-round leader Shane Lowry, are tied for second at 6 under. Rory McIlroy is another shot back, in solo fifth, after a third-round 68 of his own.
Elvira, whose last DPWT triumph came at the 2024 Soudal Open, survived another windy day and packed leaderboard with as many as five players tying for the lead at one point. Lowry bogeyed two of his first six holes, though he settled in after that to shoot 71. If not for a lipped-out birdie attempt from 10 feet at the par-4 18th, Lowry would’ve been in second alone.
“It was a grind today,” Lowry said. “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.”
Elvira didn’t record a birdie until the ninth hole. He then added three more on the back side to build his overnight cushion.
“I’ve been here long enough to not be too nervous tomorrow, let’s put it that way,” Elvira said. “I think I’m going to try to enjoy and probably learn from all the experiences that I have in the past and see where that puts me. I’m happy where I’m at.”
McIlroy, though, is lurking after a round in which he notched just one bogey and didn’t rinse a shot; he had four water balls – nearly five – on Friday.
“I was looking at this week as honestly a bit of a practice week going into the Desert Classic next week, just to shake off a little bit of the rust,” McIlroy said. “But it’s great to go into a final round tomorrow in contention and have a chance to win a tournament. I’ve learned a lot about my game over the last three days, but I think any time that you’re at the business end of proceedings on the final day, you learn a lot about your game.
“Tomorrow will be a good day for me.”