DUBAI — Eugenio Chacarra defiantly said, "I'm ready," as he prepares for a Sunday showdown with Rory McIlroy for all the marbles.

The Race to Dubai rivals are neck and neck at the DP World Tour Championship with 18 holes to play, and the outcome will be decided by the final 18 holes of the season. Both men finished their third rounds at the Earth Course at five under par, four shots off the lead of Tyrrell Hatton.

They got there in very different ways. McIlroy hit the front with an eagle at the seventh, but he followed it with three consecutive bogeys to tumble down the leaderboard. A birdie at the last got him back to even par for the day, but it could have been an eagle after a magnificent approach left a seven-footer. Alas, his putt burned the edge.

Chacarra, meanwhile, was comfortable in the chaos. He made just five pars en route to a four-under-par 68, plundering nine birdies. He will be irked by his three bogeys and a double, but he delivered on his promise to fight his way back into the tournament. He joins McIlroy, Adam Scott and Francesco Laporta in a tie for fourth.

Chacarra's 534-point advantage from the start of the week remains intact, but the job is by no means done. A volatile final round awaits, but the Spaniard says he is playing with house money after a three-win season.

"I'm ready. I love the game of golf. I love practicing. I work so hard for these moments, and I'm going to go out there and enjoy it," he said.

"I think all of my goals have been done this season. So I'm just playing free. This is an extra bonus to have a chance to win it, and just to enjoy every moment.

"Not a lot of people can enjoy this moment and have a chance to win the Race to Dubai. I'm going to have a chance tomorrow, and I'm going to go try and enjoy it as much as possible.

"It's been a grind. I've been fighting. I played all year on the DP World Tour. I played a lot, and I want to really win that ranking. I want to show the world I'm capable of playing under pressure, and I think so far I've been doing that.

Four shots off Hatton's lead, Chacarra is confident he can still win the tournament and put his Race to Dubai victory beyond doubt.

"I just want to win the tournament," he said. "I'm not far away. I think I'm three shots out now. Hopefully they don't make a lot of birdies coming in and I have a shot tomorrow. I know if I win the tournament, I win the ranking.

"That's what we prepared for, and I'm going to have a chance on Sunday. That's what I dreamed of since I was little — to win big events on Sunday, and I'm going to have a chance."

Hatton leads the way at nine under, one shot clear of Victor Perez. Mikael Lindberg is in solo third place at six under.