Race to Dubai set to go down to the wire at DP World Tour Championship

Both Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood remain in contention in the desert as the race to be the European Tour's top golfer reaches its conclusion

(Getty)

America's David Lipsky set the early clubhouse target as Justin Rose regained the upper hand in the rollercoaster battle to end the season as European number one.

Lipsky carded a superb third round of 64 in the DP World Tour Championship to finish 10 under par, although that was likely to be overtaken on another day of low scoring at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

Rose was among the players to make an early move thanks to a superb approach to the first from a fairway bunker and a tap-in birdie on the third, the Olympic champion joining Lipsky, Dylan Frittelli and overnight leader Matt Fitzpatrick at the top of the leaderboard.

A remarkable third victory in succession for Rose would guarantee him a second Race to Dubai title a decade after the first, with outright fifth place possibly enough depending on Tommy Fleetwood's result.

Fleetwood came into the week with a lead of 256,738 points and recovered from an opening 73 with a superb 65 on Friday.