DUBAI, United Arab Emirates --- Lee Westwood maintained his two-shot lead at the Dubai World Championships after shooting 6-under-par 66 on Saturday in the third round.
The Englishman made six birdies to take his total to 15-under 201. England's Ross McGowan is second after 66.
Westwood opened up a five-shot advantage over Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, his only remaining rival for the Race to Dubai. Should he win both titles, Westwood will receive $2.75 million and become Europe's No. 1 player for the first time since 2000.
The 20-year-old McIlroy had led the European Money List going into the tournament but fell five shots behind after 69. He is seeking to become the youngest player since Seve Ballesteros to in 1979 to be the No. 1 European player.
Westwood believes his confidence will be high going into the fourth round.
"I looked at the names on the leaderboard," he said, "and I have won 30 tournaments in my career and no one else has closed out as many tournaments as I have. The Race to Dubai situation is very tense, but I have won it before so I know how to deal with the pressure."
The 27-year-McGowan is certainly inexperienced, playing in only his second full season on the European Tour and only recording his first victory at the Madrid Masters in October.
A run of four birdies from the sixth hole on Dubai's Earth Course took McGowan briefly into the lead until Westwood had three birdies from the ninth.
McIlroy made six birdies in 15 holes to be one shot behind Westwood, but his game collapsed. Three errors left him in a tie for third place at 10-under with Ireland's Padraig Harrington and Sweden's Alexander Noren.
PGA TOUR: Kevin Kisner and Emmett Turner head the list of area golfers advancing to the finals of the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament.
In second stage qualifying, which ended Saturday, Kisner and Turner were winners at their sites.
Kisner, of Aiken, routed the field in Pine Mountain, Ga., closing with 66 to finish at 25-under 263 and win by seven shots.
Turner, of Augusta, won in Kingwood, Texas, closing with 71 to finish at 15-under 273. He won by two.
At the Pine Mountain site, North Augusta's Scott Brown had a final-round 65 to finish second to Kisner. David Robinson, of Sandersville, Ga., had 72 to finish tied for 10th and also advance to the finals.
Major Manning, a former Augusta State golfer, also advanced to the final. Playing in McKinney, Texas, he had the day's low round -- 66 -- to move from a tie for 10th to a tie for third.
Former PGA Tour player Matt Hendrix failed to make it through the McKinney stage. He shot 72 and tied for 48th place.
The finals will be Dec. 2-7 at Bear Lakes Country Club in West Palm Beach, Fla.
LPGA TOUR: In Richmond, Texas, persistent rain and wet conditions washed out play at the LPGA Tour Championship, forcing officials to cut the season-ending event to 54 holes.
More than 1.2 inches of rain fell on The Houstonian Country Club layout from Friday morning until the decision was made at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
Play is expected to resume this morning to complete the second round. A cut will be made to the low 70 scores and ties and a third round and final round will be played starting at 7 a.m. Monday.
"We had a plan to try and play 72 holes by Monday, but that would have required players to possibly stay over for Tuesday and we didn't want to do that," said Doug Brecht, the tour's vice president for rules and competition.
Tournament leader Lorena Ochoa and most of the other players were not in the clubhouse when the decision was made to cancel play. Today's forecast calls for sunny and dry conditions.
PEBBLE BEACH INVITATIONAL: In Pebble Beach, Calif., 20-year-old Rickie Fowler shot 5-under-par 67 at Del Monte, and former PGA champion Mark Brooks had 69 at Spyglass Hill to share the third-round lead in the Callaway Golf Pebble Beach Invitational.
Second-round co-leader Matt Bettencourt shot 69 at Spyglass Hill, and was tied with Bryce Molder at 6-under. Molder had 70 at Pebble Beach.
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