Rory McIlroy emerged from a wild afternoon at the DP World Tour Championship with three birdies over his last five holes Saturday for a 4-under 68, giving him a share of the lead with Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen of Denmark as he closes in on a fourth straight Race to Dubai title.

The final hour at the Jumeirah Golf Estates featured an eight-way tie for the lead at one point. Nicolai Hojgaard started the third round with the lead and his twin brother became one of the leaders by the afternoon.

When the third round ended, McIlroy and Neergaard-Peterson (68) were at 13-under 203, one shot clear of Tyrrell Hatton and five other players.

Hatton is the only player with a mathematical chance of catching McIlroy in the Race to Dubai, though it would require a collapse by the Masters champion on the Earth course where McIlroy is defending champion and has three titles.

Hatton would have to win and have McIlroy finish outside the top eight, though with so many players bunched at the top, it’s not unreasonable for that to happen.

The group one shot behind includes Rasmus Hojgaard (65), Matt Fitzpatrick (66), Tommy Fleetwood (68), Laurie Canter (68) and Angel Ayora of Spain, who bogeyed the last for a 67.

It sets up for a wide-open finish to the European Tour season, with McIlroy going for a seventh title as Europe’s No. 1, one short of the record held by Colin Montgomerie.

Adam Schenk played bogey-free in strong wind for a 4-under 67, giving him a share of the lead with Braden Thornberry in what has become a tense chase for a PGA Tour card at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship.

Thornberry, a PGA Tour rookie who won the NCAA title at Mississippi eight years ago, shot a 69 to join Schenk at 12-under 201 with hardly any margin for error going into the final round.

Schenk and Thornberry are among 10 players from the top 11 on the leaderboard who arrived in Bermuda outside the top 100 in the FedEx Cup with time running out. The RSM Classic at Sea Island next week ends the season, the first one that offers cards to the top 100 instead of the top 125.

Linn Grant rolled in a pair of 15-foot putts among her five birdies that carried her to a 5-under 65 for a one-shot lead in The Annika as she tries to extend her streak to six years with at least one win worldwide.

Grant missed only one green and two fairways at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Fla. She was at 14-under 196, one shot ahead of Jennifer Kupcho, who also played bogey free on a pristine afternoon in the Tampa Bay area.

TENNIS

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have been playing each other nearly all year for the biggest titles in tennis.

Add one more important trophy that they will vie for today: the ATP Finals.

The top-ranked Alcaraz beat Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-2, 6-4 and No. 2 Sinner defeated Alex de Minaur 7-5, 6-2 before his Italian home crowd in the semifinals to set up another meeting between the two players who have distanced themselves from the rest of the field.

“I expect at least three to four people in the crowd cheering for me,” Alcaraz said with a smile. “It’s going to be really difficult. I’m just really happy to see Jannik in another final. Every time we face each other in a final we raise our level to the top.”

Alcaraz already secured the year-ending No. 1 ranking but will be contesting his first final at the event for the year’s top eight players.

SOCCER

Gift Monday and Croix Bethune scored and the host Washington Spirit beat the Portland Thorns 2-0 to advance to the National Women’s Soccer League championship game.

With the win, the Spirit will play in its second consecutive NWSL final next weekend in San Jose. They will face the winner of today’s semifinal between Gotham FC and the Orlando Pride.

Gio Reyna scored in his first international start in 16 months to surpass his father in career goals and then set up Folarin Balogun’s tiebreaking goal in the 71st minute to lead the United States over Paraguay 2-1 in a friendly between World Cup-bound teams that sparked a late brawl in Chester, Pa.

American defender Alex Freeman and Paraguay captain Diego Gómez both tried to pick up a ball that rolled out during second-half stoppage time, and they started scrapping as both benches joined in. Paraguay’s Omar Alderete, who was not in the game, was given a red card and American midfielder Cristian Roldan a yellow card.