Rory McIlroy obviously got over his disappointment for missing the cut last week in the 148th Open Championship at home in Northern Ireland.
The 30-yard-old McIlroy, ranked third in the world, birdied the last three holes to post an 8-under-par 64 and take a one-stroke lead over top-ranked Brooks Koepka heading to the final round of the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational at TPC Southwind https://tpc.com/southwind in Memphis, Tenn.
“I had a lot of perfect numbers into the greens today and was able to go ahead and make a lot of good, full swings,” said McIlroy, who won this tournament in 2014 and also captured the WGC-Match Play in 2015. “I’ve holed a lot of putts this week. The greens are so fast and if you get it on line, it just goes in.
“I found something on the range and was dialed in with my wedges. I was hitting the ball pin high all day. The finish was great; to birdie the last three holes and get into the lead was huge.”
McIlroy, who will play alongside Koepka in a final round for the first time, collected five birdies on the front nine and again finished with three in a row to start with 30, and posted a 54-hole score of 12-under-par 198.
Koepka, who has won four majors in the last three seasons but has yet to claim a WGC title despite five top-10 finishes, birdied five of the first 11 holes on his way to a 64.
“I hadn’t made a lot of putts this week, but finally saw a few go in,” said Koepka, who won the PGA Championship for the second straight year and finished in the top four of all four majors this season. “I made a couple early and the hole seemed to open up for me.
“I feel like I have a chance to win every time I tee it up. It’s been a great run and feels incredible. But Rory is playing well and I know I’m going to have to play well tomorrow to beat him.”
Matthew Fitzpatrick, the 36-hole leader, salvaged a 69 with two late birdies and is two strokes back in solo third.
Marc Leishman of Australia holed out from 43 yards for an eagle on the 16th hole and played the last five holes in 5-under to shoot 63 and is one more down in a tie for fourth with Alex Noren of Sweden, who made three late birdies in a 66, and eighth-ranked Jon Rahm of Spain, who finished at 68 with a 20-foot birdie on the last hole.
Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark had five birdies on the front nine in a 65 and is four strokes behind in a tie for seventh with Ian Poulter of England, who wound up at 67, and Billy Horschel who shot 69.
Tommy Fleetwood made five birdies on the front nine and all pars on the back in a 65 and is five shots back in a tie for 10th with ninth-ranked Justin Thomas, who had a 66, plus Webb Simpson and Bubba Watson, who both came in at 68.
Fourth-ranked Justin Rose is tied for 15th after a 70, 10th-ranked Patrick Cantlay of Los Alamitos and UCLA stumbled to a 73 and is tied for 18th, second-ranked Dustin Johnson shot 68 and is tied for 26th, and seventh-ranked Bryson DeChambeau of Clovis is 50th after a 72.
For complete results, visit https://www.pgatour.com/competition/2019/wgc-fedex-st-jude-invitational/leaderboard.html
