Rory McIlroy wants to take the No. 1 spot in the World Golf Rankings from Brooks Koepka and he knows the way to do it is keep finding the top of leaderboards.
The second-ranked McIlroy, from Northern Ireland, carded a third straight 5-under-par 67 to take a one-stroke lead over Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa after three rounds of the WGC-HSBC Champions at Sheshan International Golf Club www.sheshangolf.com/en/ in Shanghai.
“I want to go out there and be committed, play aggressively, and shoot a good number in the final round,” said McIlroy, who has been No. 1 on seven occasions, but not since 2015. “I took a lot from the win in Canada earlier this year. I went out tied for the lead, and I just said from the start, ‘I’m going to keep my foot down and I’m going to go for everything.’ It was a good lesson that when you do have something right there in front of you, a tournament to win or something to achieve, you just have to grab it with both hands, and that’s what I’ll do tomorrow.
“Right now, the game feels pretty simple. I know that it’s not going to feel like that all the time, but when it does, you have to take advantage of that feeling. I’ve given myself another opportunity to win a very big golf tournament, a tournament that I’ve never won before. There’s enough guys close to me that I just need to go out there and play aggressively. Just have a similar mindset to the mindset I’ve had over the first few days.”
McIlroy, who has two WGC victories among his 26 titles as a pro, collected three birdies on the front nine and two more on the back to record his bogey-free round, finishing 54 holes at 15-under 201.
Oosthuizen, seeking his first WGC title, birdied the first five holes and two of the last three while posting the low round of the day at 65.
“Winning a World event will be a big achievement, and I need to just go out and play some good golf,” said Oosthuizen, whose victory in the 2010 Open Championship at St. Andrews is the highlight of his 14 pro titles. “I played with Rory the last two rounds last week. He’s absolutely striping it. I need to play really good golf tomorrow.”
Ninth-ranked Xander Schauffele of La Jolla and San Diego State, the defending champion, birdied the last three holes for a 68 and is two shots back in a tie for third with second-round leader Matthew Fitzpatrick of England, who salvaged a 70 with a closing birdie.
Paul Waring is three behind in solo fifth after a 66 that included three straight birdies through No. 17, while Jason Kokrak also shot 66 with five birdies on the front nine and is one more down in a tie for sixth with Sungjae Im of South Korea, whose only two bogeys came on the last two holes of a 70.
Kevin Kisner, who won the WGC-Dell Match Play title earlier this year, totaled 67 and is five strokes back in a tie for eighth with Abraham Ancer, who also had a 67.
Christian Bezuidenhout of South Africa eagled the final hole for a 66 and six behind in a tie for 10th with Matthias Schwab of Austria, who had a 69 that also included an eagle at No. 18, and Victor Perez of France, who came in at 71.
Eighth-ranked Justin Rose of England also shot 71 and is tied for 15th, two-time WGC-HSBC champion Phil Mickelson is tied for 38th after a 75, and reigning Open champion Shane Lowry of Ireland carded a third straight 72 and is tied for 44th.
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