Saturday 30 September 2017 17:59, UK
Rory McIlroy put himself firmly in contention at the British Masters supported by Sky Sports with a six-under 64 in the third round at Close House.
The world No 6 had flirted with missing the cut for much of his second round on Friday before eventually carding a 69 which left him on four-under overnight.
That gave McIlroy a 10.45am start time on Saturday and he made the most of the opportunity to put some pressure on the later starters with six birdies in a flawless round.
The Northern Irishman birdied the third, fifth, sixth and ninth as he turned in just 31, and then added further gains at the 13th and 17th on the back nine to storm up to 10-under - just two behind leader Robert Karlsson.
McIlroy was pleased with his performance and felt that, for once this season, his score had reflected his efforts on the course.
"I felt today I did get the most out of it," he told Sky Sports. "I scrambled well when I needed to. Some of these three and four footers that you leave yourself on these greens are pretty tricky.
"They are so soft that there are some heel prints, and stuff, so you are just trying to make as committed a stroke as you possibly can and hope it goes in. And today they did for me.
"It was nice I gave myself plenty of chances. I made some and it's always nice to be bogey-free as well."
One of the highlights of McIlroy's round was a chip-in from off the green on the par-three fifth and he was delighted to give his supporters plenty to cheer about.
He added: "There were a lot of people out there and it was nice to have the support and nice to hit shots like that in front of them. It was nice to get a reaction as well.
"It's been great all week, it really has. Even when we teed off early on Thursday morning, the amount of people out here was incredible."
McIlroy also admitted he had taken on the course as he looked to reel in the leaders by giving himself plenty of birdie opportunities.
"I was a little bit more aggressive, but the course let you be more aggressive today," he said.
"The tee has moved up on nine, you can reach the green on 17, you've got the two par fives that are reachable and it is so soft out there.
"If you hit good shots you are going to be rewarded and you are going to leave yourself with a lot of birdie chances. I'd expect to be a few behind going into tomorrow but it was a nice score to shoot."
McIlroy confidently holed a 10-foot putt to birdie the 17th and he highlighted this as the sort of putt he will need to hole on Sunday if he is to clinch his first title of the year.
"You can give yourself eight to 10 chances around this golf course and tomorrow I will have to make pretty much all of them if I'm going to give myself a chance," he added.
"At least I have put myself in a position today where if I do hole those putts tomorrow it might mean something. So that's nice."
