REUTERS

Lee Westwood of Britain plays a shot out of the bunker on the second hole during the third round of the Dubai Desert Classic.

Dubai – Lee Westwood goes in to Sunday's final round of the Dubai Desert Classic in bullish mood after surging from the pack to lead by a shot at 15 under.

Westwood, 38, has never won the Dubai event despite being a regular since his 1994 debut, but after shooting a third-round 67 on Saturday he vowed to put that right.

“I know how to play with the lead,” the world No 3 told reporters. “You get used to knowing what to do; when to press, when not to press, when to be patient.

“I've put a lot of preparation in, so I'm entitled to be confident really. My short game is getting a lot sharper and on the putting green it's improving dramatically.

“So why not be confident? I'm seeing improvements in everything and my scoring is lower than it's ever been, I'm shooting 60s and 64s and 62s around tough courses.”

Westwood started Dubai slowly but now has 10 birdies and just two bogeys in his last 21 holes, the Englishman thriving as blustery onshore winds blew his rivals off course.

U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy was one of those to struggle. The Ulsterman started the day as joint leader on 13 under, but could only shoot par for the round after finding the water on the seventh and missing the fairway from the tee on four of the opening nine holes.

“It was pretty ragged to say the least,” said the world No 2.

“I think the conditions were a little tougher, the wind got up, and I hadn't really played in wind like that all week, so that put me off a little bit and the greens got a little firmer.

“The pin positions were a little tougher, and it didn't come as easy to me as it did the first couple of days.”

McIlroy said he would go to the driving range to try and improve on his alignment and ball position ahead of Sunday's deciding round and also hoped the wind stiffen.

“It means that the guys in front of me, unless someone plays really, really well, can't really get away from me,” he added.

Sandwiched between McIlroy and Westwood on 14 under are the unlikely trio of Marcel Siem, Stephen Gallacher and Rafael Cabrera-Bello, whose combined world rankings add up to 490.

Britain's Gallacher was struck down with a debilitating viral infection in 2009 that left him unable to pick up a club for four months and sent him tumbling down the rankings.

The Scot, a nephew of former Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher, has since battled back and will now join Westwood in Sunday's leading trio.

“It feels great – all you can ask is to be in with a chance in the last round, there's still a lot of golf to go,” Gallacher told reporters. “I knew I was going to come back, it was just a case of how long.” – Reuters