Tommy Fleetwood is putting from the fringe on the fifth, but only about 10 feet away. The ball doesn't drop though and that's a fourth par after his opening bogey.

Laurie Canter's putt is about a third of the distance of Fleetwood and the Englishman takes full advantage to join McIlroy at the top of the pile.

The fifth is looking like a birdie hole, with the pin cut in a bit of a hollow and players attacking it with a wedge in hand.

Justin Rose almost holed his second, leaving a tap-in birdie from about two inches, and now both Tommy Fleetwood and Laurie Canter have sent pin-seekers in close.

Rose holds the course record - a 62, shot in 2012 as he finished runner-up. And the Englishman followed his birdie on five by draining a 50-footer on the sixth to move two off the lead.

Disaster for Li Haotong on the seventh. It's a par five and very much a birdie hole, but the Chinese has made a right mess of it.

A wayward drive led to a chip out sideways and then he pinged his fourth shot into a greenside bunker. His fifth flew way beyond the pin but in the end it's a decent two-putt to only drop two shots.

But all that good early work has been undone.

Rory McIlroy is a fraction long with his approach to the par-five second, his ball coming to rest just off the back of the green and that leaves him a tricky one through the fringe.

His eagle try wanders 10 feet past but that's no bother for world number two, who confidently rolls in for a second birdie.

Playing partner Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen is also down in four as he looks to keep pace.

And here is Tyrrell Hatton on the par-four third, putting from downtown for an outside chance of a birdie. He gives that a bit too much of a rattle and the ball finishes eight feet beyond the cup.

He watches playing partner Angel Ayora pull a putt from a similar position left of the hole. A solid start for the Spaniard though.

Hatton for par? No. It's a tentative stab and that's another bogey.

So how has Tyrrell Hatton started? An errant tee shot led to a bogey on the first hole but the Englishman took full advantage of the par-five second to get that shot back with a tap-in birdie.

All he can do is keep knocking in birdies and hope that McIlroy has an off day.

Rory McIlroy holed three birdies in the final five holes on Saturday to move into the joint lead.

The Northern Irishman carded a four-under-par 68 in the United Arab Emirates, during a round that included five birdies and a bogey as he went to 13 under, along with Denmark's Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen.

England's Laurie Canter (68), Matt Fitzpatrick (66), Tommy Fleetwood (68) and Tyrrell Hatton (67) started on 12 under, along with Spain's Angel Ayora (67) and Denmark's Rasmus Hojgaard (65).

McIlroy has a 767-point lead at the top of the season-long rankings as he goes for his fourth consecutive Race to Dubai crown.

Hatton is the only player who can stop McIlroy from winning the season-long title with Marco Penge, who started the tournament as the only other who could claim the crown, back on four under at the start of play today.

Hatton needs to win the tournament and have McIlroy finish worse than tied for eighth to win it.

Rory McIlroy, is looking to win Europe's season-ending tournament for a record fourth time - moving clear of three-time winner Jon Rahm.

He is also aiming to secure the Race to Dubai crown for the fourth straight year and seventh time overall, with Scotland's Colin Montgomerie holding the record with eight titles.

It was called the Order of Merit when Monty was dominating through the 1990s (with his final triumph coming in 2005) - and it seems likely that McIlroy will be one adrift in a few hours.

England's Laurie Canter, who now lives out close to the Earth Course in Dubai, is another off to a quick start. He's just rolled in a second birdie of the day on the third to move into a share of the lead.

Rory McIlroy looks in the mood here. A 140-yard wedge flies straight at the flag, coming to rest a dozen feet beyond it. He's got a little right-to-left borrow down a slope to negotiate and he judges it to perfection, the ball toppling into the hole.

Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen can't match the birdie but is safely off to a par start.

-14 Li

-13 Aberg, Canter, Ayora Neergaard, McIlroy

-12 Hillier, Lowry, Rose, Hatton, M Fitzpatrick, R Hojgaard

-11 Fleetwood

Full leaderboard

The overnight leaders tee off knowing that they are no longer top of the pile though.

That's because China's Li Haotong has had the fastest of starts. Three successive birdies took him into a share of the lead, and after a super par save from a bunker on the par-three fourth, he's just knocked in a tiddler for a fourth birdie of the day, on the fifth, to top the leaderboard

For the first time at this event, Rory McIlroy is announced as the Masters champion. Game face on as he acknowledges the cheers.

The Northern Irishman pings his opener down the right side of the fairway and his ball clings on to the short grass. Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen is also on the short stuff.

Seven of Europe's victorious Ryder Cup have teed off since 07:15 GMT...

Justin Rose and Ludvig Aberg are playing together, while Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Matt Fitzpatrick and Rasmus Hojgaard are all under way.

And Rory McIlroy, who claimed his first professional win in golf in Dubai, back in 2009, has just emerged on to the first tee.

As joint overnight leader with Denmark's Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, McIlroy has a terrific chance to finish top of the pile again.

In recent years has seemingly either won or been in contention every time he has teed it up in the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

Hello, and welcome to coverage of the final round of the DP World Tour Championship.

Rory McIlroy is in pole position to round off what he has already called the best season of his life by claiming one last title as the European tour reaches its conclusion in Dubai.

He's also likely to win a seventh Race to Dubai crown, regardless of whether he wins today. And with lots of other sub-plots, such as PGA Tour cards up for grabs, not to mention a stacked leaderboard full of Europe's victorious Ryder Cup stars, it promises to be a fascinating finale.

So grab a bagel and a brew and settle in.