Rory McIlroy has voiced his frustration after his third round at the DP Word Tour Championship in Dubai.
The defending champion is 5-under par and eight shots behind overall leader Victor Dubuisson, who is 13-under par.
McIlroy, who briefly moved to within four strokes of the lead, threatened to go low, but bogeyed the last for a 68.
While he felt his performance outweighed his final score for the round, the Northern Irishman is disappointed.
"It was okay. I played much better than the score suggested. I gave myself so many chances out there and I had a look at being able to birdie most holes and could have really taken advantage of it and posted a low score. But it just wasn't meant to be. It was one of those things. It was a 68 but quite a disappointing one of those in the end," he said.
He had managed five birdies before that bogey on the 18th.
Offaly's Shane Lowry is the best of the Irish on 6-under par after a third round 69 while Padraig Harraington is 2-under after a 71.
A bogey each on the front and back-nine prevented Lowry from moving even closer to the lead ahead of Sunday's final round.
Meanwhile, Danny Willett's hopes of becoming the European Tour's top money-winner of 2016 in the Race to Dubai have suffered a big setback.
The Englishman slipped to 1-over-par after hitting a 4-over score of 76 on the third round.
It puts him six shots behind Sweden's Henrik Stenson, who is among those also hoping to finish the campaign in top spot.
Stenson is on 5-under along with McIlroy in a tie for 22nd.
Dubuisson's 13-under lead at the top is just one shot clear of a three-way tie for second including Belgium's Nicolas Colsaerts and English duo Tyrell Hatton Matthew Fitzpatrick.
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