The four-time major winner birdied five of the first 10 holes and bounced back from just his third bogey of the week on the 12th with three birdies in a row to take the outright lead for the first time.

At 15 under par the 26-year-old was one shot ahead of Sullivan, with American Ryder Cup star Patrick Reed another shot back and England’s Danny Willett setting the clubhouse target on 11 under.

Willett trails McIlroy by just 1,613 points in the Race to Dubai but looked to be drifting out of contention before playing his last five holes in four under par, carding birdies on the 14th and 18th and holing from 30 feet for eagle on the 15th after driving the green.

“It was a good day,” Willett said after signing for a 67. “I kept digging in and looking at the leaderboard and knowing people were shooting low scores helped give us a kick up the rear. From nowhere we gained three shots on the field and got back into the mix.

“I don’t think we are going to see Rory coming backwards so we need to shoot a good round tomorrow and see what happens.”