Rory McIlroy Damages Wedge At Dubai Desert Classic But Still Shoots His Round Of The Week

Rory McIlroy produced the best round of his tournament at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, despite being forced into a wedge change prior to his third round.

Firing four birdies and one bogey for a three-under 69, McIlroy jumped a number of places up the leaderboard on Moving Day, even though he had to change his lob wedge before teeing off at Emirates GC.

Speaking after his round, McIlroy stated: "I had a spare thankfully. I was just hitting a few bunker shots to warm up and one of the balls came out a little funny, and I looked at my face and there was some big massive score mark up the middle of the face from a stone. Luckily I had a brand new one in the locker that I could replace it with. It worked out okay."

Regarding the wedges McIlroy uses, he is currently playing TaylorMade MG4s in 46°, 50° and 54°. Reportedly, McIlroy also uses a Titleist Vokey Design WedgeWorks in 58°, with it unclear as to which model was damaged prior to his round.

Sitting at six-under-par, the four-time Dubai Desert Classic winner is seven shots back of leader, Daniel Hillier, who carded a two-under-par third round to get to 13-under.

Last year, defending champion McIlroy came from 10 shots back at the halfway stage to win but, with just 18 holes remaining, the 35-year-old knows he will need to go low to have any chance of a third straight Desert Classic trophy.

"(It)Depends on what the conditions are tomorrow. I don't think the winning score will go much past 13, depending on obviously the conditions. But I mean, 15, so I'd need to go out and shoot 63 tomorrow.

"If the conditions are right, I've been able to do that before, especially if you can make a score on the front nine before, as you say, that scorable back nine, my key tomorrow is if I can get off to a faster start and shoot three or four on the front, then I have a chance."