Whatever glitches were present at the start of the tournament, Rory McIlroy – the world number one – found the solution and ironed them out. On the range, and, as it turned out, on the course.
And, in firing a third round 64 in the Deutsche Bank championship at TPC Boston, the 25-year-old Northern Irishman moved menacingly into position to strengthen his bid for a fourth tournament win in his last five outings and has remained on target to scoop the $10 million bonus that awaits the winner of the FedEx Cup series.
McIlroy's bogey-free round of 64 featured seven birdies and propelled him into the business end of affairs in the Deustche Bank, the second of fourFedEx Cup playoff tournaments on the US Tour, giving him a 54-hole total of 10-under-par 203 which left him perfectly poised heading into the final round which finishes on Labour Day in the United States.
The Ulsterman – who won the British Open, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and US PGA in successive tournaments to reinforce his status as the new dominant force in the sport – has a habit of twirling the club in his hands after a good shot. In yesterday’s third round, he had plenty of occasions to be such a showman as he produced wonderful shot after wonderful shot in moving up the leaderboard.
“I’ve been in this position quite a lot recently so I know how it’s going to feel (in the final round), I know what’s going to happen out there, hopefully (this) is no different,” said McIlroy about getting into the mix again in a big tournament. McIlroy is intent on challenging for the $10 million top prize in the bonus pool which is on offer to the winner of the FedEx Cup series.
McIlroy hit 15 greens in regulation in yesterday’s third round and made seven of those birdie chances, although he demonstrated some human frailty in failing to birdie the Par 5 18th hole after using a three-wood off the tee for safety (having found the hazard in Saturday’s second round) but then putting his long-iron approach over the back.
For the most part, though, it was vintage McIlroy. After his second round on Saturday, McIlroy had worked on the range. “I just went back to a few basics and fundamentals, worked on alignment a little bit, on ball position. If I get my alignment right, then automatically the swing will start to get back.”
His work on alignment obviously paid benefits, as he used Sunday’s third round as his moving day with a series of superbly executed approach shots.
McIlroy got off to a fast start with birdies on the second and third holes, where he holed a 25-footer. He kept his momentum going with a birdie from 10 feet on the seventh and turned in 33 strokes before producing some superb golf on his homeward run.
On the 10th, McIlroy hit a wedge approach to three feet and rolled in the birdie putt and sank a 12 footer for birdie on the 13th. However, his back-to-back birdies on the 15th and 16th were the products of magnificent approach shots: on the 15th, from the first cut of rough, he hit a wedge from 125 yards to 10 inches; and, on the 16th, he hit a nine-iron approach into the breeze to finish inside 12 inches of the hole for a straightforward birdie putt.
The magic was clearly in the air with McIlroy and his playing partner Chris Kirk, who also shot up the leaderboard with a round of 64. The pair were a combined 14 under for their rounds with no bogeys on either card.
McIlroy is seeking his fourth win in just over a month on tour but also has his eye on that FedEx Cup bonus prize and intends to play in the BMW in Colorado and the Tour Championship, the final event in the series, before taking a week's break ahead of the Ryder Cup later this month.
Ian Poulter, desperately trying to show some good form to Europe's captain Paul McGinley before his wild card picks on Monday, shot a third round 71 for two-under-par 211. The Englishman is in danger of failing to make the top 70 on the FedEx Cup standings who progress to this week's tournament in Colorado, the third leg of the series.
