Jon Rahm makes PGA Tour return harder to ignore, takes Abu Dhabi lead over Rory McIlroy

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Jon Rahm admitted ahead of the DP World Tour's first playoff event at the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship at Yas Links that he'd love a Brooks Koepka-like deal to return to the PGA Tour, even though he turned down the same offer about a year ago.

Now he seems intent on making it tougher to ignore him.

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Rahm fired a 66 in the third round, moving into a one-stroke lead atop a power-packed leaderboard.

The Spaniard used an eagle on the 11th hole to kickstart his round, and he now leads Tyrrell Hatton and Francesco Laporta by a stroke, while Rory McIlroy is just another stroke behind that duo in solo fourth.

The PGA Tour's CEO, Brian Rolapp, said in September he wasn't expecting any similar programs for players to be able to return from, but Rahm is proving he's an asset the league will need to consider.

Meanwhile, McIlroy has made as many birdies through three days as he ever has on the DP World Tour, but a double-bogey and another costly bogey on the 17th hole have him just off the lead. He still feels he can be in the mix tomorrow despite the miscues.

“I played some really good golf out there, but also a little rough. I felt like I had some really good momentum coming off the back of the front-nine birdie and then birdieing nine. I was in a good position on 10. The bunker shot came out a lot faster than I anticipated and went over the green, and I was sort of dead from there. I followed a poor shot with another mistake with the third and ended up making a mess and making a double," McIlroy said.

“But then I fought back and made birdies on the next four holes, so it was a good bounce back. I just sort of let it go a little bit at the end with the bogey on 17 and then didn’t take advantage of the last. But overall, a good day. I kept myself within touching distance, and I’ve got a good shot at it tomorrow, which is all I want.”

DP World Tour Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship

PlacePlayerThird roundScore to par1Jon Rahm66-18T-2Tyrrell Hatton67-17T-2Francesco Laporta67-174Rory McIlroy67-165Adam Scott66-15T-6Matthew Jordan69-14T-6David Puig68-14

Tim Schmitt is the managing editor of Golfweek and the golf coordinator of the USA Today Network.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Jon Rahm makes PGA Tour return harder to ignore, takes Abu Dhabi lead over Rory McIlroy

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