DUBAI: Rory McIlroy struggled badly throughout the day in Saturday's third round at the Dubai Desert Classic, but by the end of it he was still ahead in a three-way tie for the lead. The 21-year-old Ulsterman, who led by one overnight, had a nightmare start with a hat trick of bogeys and opposed to the Boy Wonder it was more a case of the boy wonders. But he gradually steadied the ship and with his main rivals for the title all finding it hard to cope with the blustery winds and firm greens, he parred the last six holes for a three over 75. That saw him share the lead at eight-under with Anders Hansen of Denmark and Thomas Aiken of South Africa. Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia remained in contention just a stroke off the lead along with five others – Jean-Baptiste Gonnet of France, Spaniards Alvaro Quiros and Alvaro Velasco, Brent Rumford of Australia and Fredrik Andersson Hed of Sweden. Lee Westwood failed to get much going and finished the day with a 72 to stand at five over, while Martin Kaymer looked out of it after a 76 left him on level par. Marino seizes lead In Pebble Beach, California, American Steve Marino took advantage of glorious weather and the relaxed playing format to surge four strokes clear in the second round of the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am Friday. Co-leader overnight with compatriot D.A. Points, Marino fired a sparkling six-under-par 66 at the Pebble Beach Golf Links. The 30-year-old Marino birdied three of his last four holes for a 13-under total of 131. Points carded a two-under 70 at Spyglass Hill to lie second with fellow American Keegan Bradley a further stroke back at eight-under 134 after a 69, also on the Spyglass layout. Irishman Padraig Harrington, playing his first event on the 2011 PGA Tour, was among a group of 10 players knotted at seven-under after shooting a six-birdie 68 at Pebble Beach. World No. 4 Phil Mickelson, a three-time winner at Pebble Beach, fired a flawless five-under 67 at Spyglass Hill to climb up the leaderboard into a tie for 24th at four under. Fellow American Dustin Johnson, champion here for the last two years, returned a 71 at Spyglass to lie a distant 13 strokes off the pace. Tseng ahead On Gold Coast, Australia, Taiwan's Yani Tseng powered to a three-shot lead in the Australian Ladies Masters Saturday to put the world No. 1 ranking within touching distance going into the final round. Tseng was in ominous touch at Royal Pines with nine birdies in a blistering bogey-free third round of 63 to lie at 20-under 196. South Korea's Jiyai Shin holds the top ranking, but Tseng is on the verge of displacing her following a seven-shot victory in last weekend's Australian Open in Melbourne and now her strong showing in the Ladies Masters. She leads American Stacy Lewis (67-65-67) by three shots, with a further two shots to another American, Ryann O'Toole (68-66-67) on 201. South Africa's Ashleigh Simon is fourth after a four
