RORY McIlroy was in a class of his own yesterday, seizing a four-shot lead with a six-under-par 66 after the third round of the Dubai Desert Classic.

Following on from his impressive opening two rounds of 66 and 64, McIlroy appeared set for a tilt at the record books on day three as a birdie blitz saw him reach the turn in five under par with the seemingly easier back nine, which included three par-5s, to come.

However, the Northern Irishman could not continue his blistering form as some wayward tee shots and indifferent shots around the greens saw him have to settle for seven successive pars from the 10th.

McIlroy did pick up another birdie on the par-4 17th, but he then looked set to immediately cancel that out on the last after finding water with his second shot. The 25-year-old managed to avoid dropping a shot though, as he coolly downed a 15-foot putt for par to sign for his 66 and a 20-under tally of 196.

Denmark's Morten Orum Madsen (66), chasing his second European Tour win, was in second place, two ahead of Britain's Lee Westwood (69) with defending champion Stephen Gallacher (70) still in the hunt and among four players at 13 under par.

A shot further back, and needing a top-three finish to secure the likelihood of a maiden Masters invitation, was Marc Warren, signing for a 73 to be among eight players locked in eighth place at 12-under par.

"The front nine was very good as I didn't put a foot wrong and when I missed a short putt on 10 it seemed like that momentum just went away and I had to scramble a little bit for pars coming in," McIlroy said.

McIlroy heads to Dublin tomorrow for a High Court date to settle a long-running dispute with his former management company but that seemed the furthest thing from his mind.

"I felt like today, for the first time this week, I struggled a little bit but I kept it together nicely and didn't drop any shots on the way in," said the 2009 Dubai Desert Classic winner. "We know in this game you can take nothing for granted. I've been in this position many times before so I know the pitfalls that are waiting out there."

As the golf world was taking in the news that Tiger Woods had crashed to last place with an 82 at TPC Scottsdale, McIlroy was not about to write off the game's longest world No 1.

"Tiger just needs to play a bit more competitive golf. I played a match with him in November [Seminole GC in West Palm Beach, Florida] and he played absolutely fantastic.

"He has probably not played in conditions like they had in Phoenix for a long while, so it can be tough.

"It would be hard, also, given it is his first event of the year as there was so much attention and scrutiny going on around him, so I wouldn't read too much into it.

"Besides Tiger's too great a champion. Just more time on the golf course is all he needs."

While the current world No 1 was supporting Woods, Warren was singing the praise of McIlroy who he competed alongside for the second time in as many events in Dubai, having been grouped with McIlroy on day three of last November's season-ending DP World Tour Championship.

Warren said: "It was certainly a different atmosphere than playing in a normal group. It was pretty cool and pretty special playing alongside the world No 1.

"He is a most normal person and has not changed a bit since I first played alongside him at a US Open qualifier in 2008 at Walton Heath.

"He is very personable as we were chatting away all day and it is to Rory's credit that he hasn't changed because in this environment we've all seen players who attain a bit of success change, and that's not nice to see."