Rory McIlroy shot a two under par 70 at the Memorial Tournament on Saturday; McIlroy is on six under alongside David Lipsky and Si Woo Kim going into the final round; watch day four live on Sky Sports Golf from 5.30pm on Sunday
Sunday 4 June 2023 17:03, UK
Rory McIlroy finished the third round of the Memorial Tournament tied for first place alongside David Lipsky and Kim Si-woo.
McIlroy shot a two under par 70 on Saturday at Murifield Village.
With the lead shifting dramatically in the final stages McIlroy goes into the final round at six under par with Lipsky, who's chasing a first PGA Tour win, and Kim.
McIlroy, who began this tournament with a nightmarish triple bogey finish to his first round, has worked his way firmly into contention.
"I'm feeling more comfortable than I felt at Oak Hill [at the PGA Championship]. I wouldn't say I'm 100 per cent. But I'm battling and I'm hanging in there.
"The course is playing really tough," he continued. "It's just about trying to position your way across the golf course.
"But it feels better. I did a lot of good work last week and, I keep saying this, but I feel like I'm not fighting the club face as much as I have been. I'm able to release it a little bit more and just have a little more trust in it and obviously this week with how tough it's playing you need to trust it."
From his position on the leaderboard, McIlroy believes he's in with "a great chance" of victory on the final day.
"I think this course is still very playable from the fairways. I've done a good job this week of keeping the ball in play," he said.
"What I need to do tomorrow is just stick to that gameplan. Not to try to get ahead of myself, not to get too aggressive.
"If I stick to the gameplan that I've played with the last three days, I'll be in with a great chance."
Viktor Hovland (69) and Mark Hubbard (72) were in the large group one shot behind at five-under. Hubbard bogeyed his last three holes for the second time this week.
The big move came from Keegan Bradley, who made the cut on the number. He teed off early and finished as the leaders were just starting to warm up. Bradley made nine birdies in his round of 65, and now he's only two shots behind.
Justin Suh, the 36-hole leader, didn't stay there for long. He started bogey-bogey, then found the water on No. 3 for a double bogey. He didn't make his first birdie - his only one - until the 14th hole. Suh had a 77. He was still only three shots behind, along with Jordan Spieth (72).
McIlroy felt like he was hanging on for dear life Saturday at the Memorial. He had to scramble for bogey to start the back nine. He went five holes without hitting a green. And all the while, he never really lost ground.
When he had to scramble for par on the fourth-easiest hole at Muirfield Village, the par-five 11th, he said he told caddie Harry Diamond he only wanted to try to break 70.
McIlroy wound up with a two-under 70. That was enough to take him four shots behind at the start of the day to a share of the lead going into Sunday.
"That's what happens when conditions are like this," McIlroy said. "You just have to hang on."
It helped that Hideki Matsuyama went from leading to dropping off the leaderboard in a span of six holes. And that Patrick Cantlay went into the water and over the green on his way to a triple bogey on the front nine. Co-leader Lipsky also bogeyed his last two holes.
What remained amid a few rumbles of thunder - but no weather delays - was an opportunity for just about everyone who had a tee time Sunday. Thirteen players were separated by two shots. Nine more were only three shots out of the lead.
Lipsky's two closing bogeys gave him a 72, while Si Woo Kim overcome two double bogeys for a 71 to join McIlroy atop the leaderboard.
It's the highest 54-hole lead since 1990, when the weather was so atrocious that the final round was canceled and Greg Norman won at even-par 216.
McIlroy, doing his best to keep in play on the fast fairways that have been baked all week by a hot sun, picked up three birdies over the last seven holes, just not on the holes he imagined.
He chipped in for birdie on the dangerous par-three 12th. He reached the par-five 15th in two after a 344-yard drive. His approach to a back pin on the 17th rolled past the cup to seven feet and set up one of only eight birdies on that hole for the day.
Just as sweet was the 18th, where his putt from the back of the green to a front pin ran nearly 10 feet by the cup and he holed that for par. McIlroy had several par putts from between five and eight feet, all of them important on a day like this.
"I was really happy with how I scored out there, and how I just sort of hung in there for most of the day," McIlroy said.
He will be in the final group with Kim, who one-putted his last seven holes, saving par from a front bunker on the 18th.
Watch day four of the Memorial Tournament live on Sky Sports Golf from 5.30pm on Sunday.
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