Paris 2024

Rory McIlroy moves into Olympic gold medal picture after 66 in third round

Irish golfer is four shots adrift of joint leaders Xander Schauffele and Jon Rahm going into the final round

Ireland's Rory McIlroy plays a tee shot during the third round the Olympic Games men's golf tournament at Le Golf National in Guyancourt, south-west of Paris. Photograph: John Macdougall/AFP via Getty Images
Sat Aug 03 2024 - 18:32

Ireland’s Rory McIlroy moved into Olympic medal contention with a third-round 66 that sees him start the final 18 holes four shots off the lead, held jointly by defending champion Xander Schauffele and Jon Rahm on 14 under.

McIlroy went bogey-free around Le Golf National outside Paris on Saturday, picking up three birdies on the front nine and two coming home to get to 10 under and a tie for sixth place. He was joined on that mark by world number one Scottie Scheffler of the US, Tom Kim of South Korea and Belgium’s Thomas Detry.

McIlroy, who admitted he feels French this week due to the amount of “Allez Rorys” from the bumper 20,000 crowds, put his 66 down to cutting out mistakes.

“I said that over the past two days I made too many mistakes and that’s why I wasn’t further up the board.

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“Today I was able to limit those mistakes and not have any bogeys. I played another really solid round of golf to give myself a chance of a medal.”

Shane Lowry also enjoyed his best round so far, matching McIlroy’s 66 to get to five under and a share of 23rd position.

Jon Rahm of Spain reacts on the 18th green after his third round of the Olympic Games men's golf tournament at Le Golf National. Photograph: Erik S Lesser/EPA

Open champion Schauffele shot 68 and the American was joined at the top of the leaderboard by the impressive Rahm.

The Spaniard, who finished tied seventh in the Open at Royal Troon and ended an 18-month wait for a win on the LIV Tour in Staffordshire last week, fired seven birdies in his 66.

Great Britain’s Tommy Fleetwood is one shot off the pace and admitted he is excited to be in contention for gold following a third-round 69.

“I’m very, very excited. The leaderboard is amazing, the leaderboard you’d expect at the Olympics. It’s what the sport deserves really and I’m happy to be a part of it. I’ve been doing very well so far so we’ll see.”

Denmark’s Nicolai Højgaard, who tied the course record of 62, and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, after a level-par 71, hold a share of fourth two shots behind Fleetwood.

Fleetwood’s GB team-mate Matt Fitzpatrick withdrew citing a thumb injury following a disastrous 81.