Rory McIlroy and Luke Donald tied for lead at DP World Tour Championship

Rory McIlroy and Luke Donald face a final-round shootout at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

The top two in the world rankings both carded six-under 66s in the third round of the European Tour finale and, at 17-under, they lead the field by three shots going into the closing day.

Donald was fastest out of the blocks as he birdied two, three, seven and nine to turn in 32 and he made further gains on the two back nine par fives.

After another day of only birdies and pars, world number two Donald has now played 100 holes at the Earth course without making a bogey.

McIlroy bogeyed the first and initially looked out of sorts but that was to prove his only blemish of the round.

As he has done all week, the world number one came on strong on the back nine and caught Donald with a majestic eagle at 14. A birdie at the last saw him home in five-under 31.

The nearest challengers to McIlroy and Donald are South African pair Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen.

The two close friends share third place on 14-under - Schwartzel shooting a 67 in round three and Oosthuizen a 68 - although both will rue missing good birdie chances at the last.

Marc Warren, who shared the lead with McIlroy and Donald at the start of play, couldn't keep pace and had to settle for a par 72.

He's tied in a big group on 11-under, one shot behind South Africa's Branden Grace and Dutchman Joost Luiten, who share fifth place on 12-under.